A Quiet Mind
by snuggled
Summary: Gaara and his siblings are always getting into trouble. Will Gaara avoid another trip to the shrink, or will the pressure finally send him over the edge? With Naruto's new friendship, hope is just around the corner. AU Friendship/Romance/non-yaoi
1. The Things That Go Bump In the Night

_Hello! Back with another AU fic. I usually don't like these, but I've been wanting to do one where I show what I think of all the characters and what groups they'd wind up being put into. This piece is actually sort of personal, since I draw out of real experiences and friends that I met along my high school journey. _

_Kiba: The kid was a nerd, though, and totally not a badass like Kiba. He was a kid who's mother drove him to school, who said good-bye to his dog for forty minutes until his mother threatened to drive off without the dog in the car._

_Hinata: Eighth grade I transferred to a public school, so I had a lot of adjusting to do. In fourth grade I completely stopped talking except to the few friends I had, and this made my transition that much harder, since I had barely anyone to talk to. I wound up freezing up around people. Her experiences are my experiences. I felt they were fitting for someone as shy as Hinata. (Freshman year was hell for me.)_

_Shino: My penchant for wearing so many layers in 90º weather. Also, he's a total metal head. He sort of also reminds me of this guy I was always watching during class. (Yeah. I'm totally not creepy.) The kid always had this wicked cool trench coat and a fedora he wore everywhere. Dosu's also based on him, though he has more of a neo-Nazi feel to him._

_Temari: Her dreads are an idea from my cousin. My cousin also has two younger brothers, one going into the military, and the other a theatre nerd. She wore dreads for a while because her hair was unmanageable, so I figured it would totally fit Temari's kickass attitude in this story._

_Naruto: A friend of mine. He was really cool in that nerdy anachronistic way–he liked My Little Pony, Ronin Warriors, Power Rangers, DBZ, and basically the same old shit I did, but everyone hated him because he was always talking. _

_TenTen: Sort of based off of my Sempai. She's on the girl's basketball team and is always yelling at girls who think they're fat. AKA Ino. She gets kicked off for playing too rough. (She wishes she were on the boy's basketball team.)_

_Kankurou: Actually based off of a_ lesbian_ my best friend introduced me to. She was a theatre techie that looked __exactly__ like a boy and was always wearing a cool hat and glasses. Kankurou takes on a more "emo" look, though. He wears things like striped polo shirts (not emo, but whatev), thick black-rimmed glasses and beanies of different colours. Purple is his favorite colour, naturally. (So yeah. Kankurou's a lezbanin for future reference.)_

_It's Gaara-centric (and Sand-Sibling-centric), though. Because Gaara was my first favorite character in this show, and I hardly ever write about him… I really think I should more often… Though, maybe NOT one that's terribly cliché that you see everywhere…_

_Sorry for the totally lame title. I hope I come up with something totally cooler. Any suggestions?_

_And because Gaara's character in this story wouldn't logically have a tattoo on him, let alone the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead, his little tattoo has been replaced by Tenderheart Bear. (Care Bears.)_

* * *

**A Quiet Mind  
**_The Things that Go Bump In the Night_

Temari swore, heading out into the hallway where her annoying little brothers were still stowed away in their rooms. She went into the room at the very end of the hall, knowing for _sure_ this one would be awake.

"Gaara! Get out of bed! It's time for school!"

In the lair of the beast, Gaara moaned in response, refusing. She stomped in there, chuckling. "Don't _pretend_ to be asleep! I know you stopped taking your medication! You've been flushing it before bed every night! Trust me–if you were asleep, I'd _know_, buddy boy!"

Her little brother finally rolled over, looking at her with the cruelest expression on his face. He merely grunted, and she gave him a bright smile. "I'll make sure we stop by McDonald's on the way to school. They've got those cool toys you're obsessed with…"

His face fell, and he sat up, mumbling something about "Hot Wheels". He looked at her, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. She rolled hers, putting her hands on her hips. "Gawd, you're so _spoiled_. You actually think I _won't_ take you to McDonald's?" He merely looked at her, that same look of suspicion on his face, before she threw her hands up in the air. "You want Hot Wheels!? I'll _buy_ you Hot Wheels, damn it! Geez! Why did Dad have to be so rich!?"

From the hallway, she heard the middle child mumble. "So he could indulge your obsession with Hot Topic, of course…"

She shot out into the hallway, pounding him on the head. "I don't shop at Hot Topic, you nerd! Maybe once or twice, but that was only because Sakura thought those earrings would look cute on me!"

Gaara shuffled out of his room, Tenderheart Care Bear plush in hand, and he witnessed his brother getting the beanie torn off his head. He watched with mild interest as Temari screeched, "Stop wearing these hats, Kankurou! They make you look even geekier than usual! Gawd!"

His older brother merely smiled pleasantly, pushing the non-prescription glasses up the bridge of his nose. "And those boots make you look like a cowboy."

She kicked him in the shin, remarking over his yelp. "All the better to _kick_ you with, my dear brother! Why do you wear those dumb glasses!? I assume it's all the better to see me with!?"

Kankurou grumbled, rubbing his shin. "Sheesh. If you're the Wolf, I guess that makes me Little Red Riding Hood…"

"And I'm the Axmen."

Both siblings turned to see the youngest staring at them with a slightly amused look in his eyes and timid smile on his face. Temari laughed. "Better than being Little Red Riding Hood, eh, Gaara?"

Gaara just shuffled past them, toward the bathroom. "I doubt it. Little Red Riding Hood doesn't get hacked to death with an axe…"

As he shut the door behind him, Kankurou grabbed the hat from his sister's hands, sticking his tongue out. "He sure showed you…"

"I'd rather get hacked to death with an axe than eaten, Kankurou. Don't even _try_ to twist that into a win for you… I'm not digesting in the pit of a wolf's stomach when an axe comes tearing through the abdominal wall, right into my dumb, ugly face."

She stormed down the stairs, and Kankurou bit his lip, watching her. "Y-Yeah…" He put his hat back on. "Well at least I'm not…" He sighed, knowing that argument was lost. He _was_ cross-dressing either way–Wolf or Red.

Gaara came out of the bathroom, yawning a little. Kankurou ruffled the little fella's already mussed red hair. "Get all of that out of your system, Gaara? You should probably get some sleep more often… Don't want to fall asleep in class."

His brother swatted his hand away, shuffling into his room. "You'd just regret it, Cat-head." He slammed the door behind him, disgruntled.

Kankurou rubbed his face, walking down the stairs, mumbling. "At least we _know_ about your night terrors… The poor teachers would probably think you were possessed by a demon…"

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After a quick stop at McDonald's, the two oldest in the front got into a heated discussion. Gaara was in the back, barely listening–he was too immersed in playing with his new toy. It was the coolest one they had in circulation at the McDonald's, all small and black and sleek, with a silver streak down the side.

"Look, Kankurou, when are you going to realize you can't just do set design and be a techie if you want to be worth anything? Get a role in the next school play, damn it."

"I do work I'm proud of. I don't _want_ to act. Do you know how far that would shoot me up on the popularity lists? I don't want that kind of attention…"

"Yeah, well it's obvious by the sounds in your room at night that you don't get _enough_ attention. I'd hate to think what happens the nights I'm asleep. Poor Gaara. You _do_ realize he hears it every time you masturbate, right?"

His cheeks flared. "Look, that isn't part of this discussion, Temari. What does it matter? All guys do it, and Gaara probably doesn't hear a thing!"

"I'm in the room across from you, on the very edge near the window, and I can _still_ hear you when I'm awake working on projects. Gaara's in the room right _next_ to you, and your bed is shoved against that wall. He _has_ to hear _something_. Poor thing. If I didn't know any better I'd say you _wanted_ him to hear it, you pervert."

"What, no I don't!"

"He masturbated last night."

Kankurou looked in the back, at his little brother messing with the wheels on the car, trying to figure out how they worked. "What are you talking about!? I didn't last night!"

Next to him, Temari cleared her throat. "Gaara, you should learn when to stop talking about things that don't need to be mentioned…"

Kankurou looked back at her, giving her a look of disgust. "Temari! You sicko! I hope Dad finds out!"

Temari stopped at a red light, steaming. "I wasn't either! For your information, I happened to have a boy over! You tell Dad that and I'll cram that hat down your throat so far, you'll be shitting yarn for a week!"

Back in the backseat, a low, ominous voice that almost didn't even sound like his came from Gaara's mouth. "_Which_ boy?"

She turned to look back at him again, her eyes wide. "What does it matter, Gaara? What? You think you're going to kick his ass or something? Like you _can_." She turned back to the front seat. "He has friends in high places… I wouldn't try searching him out…"

Gaara's eyes glowered. "…It's _Dosu_, isn't it? You two have been flirting with each other ever since school started…"

She went red, looking back at him. "Don't be serious, Gaara!"

Kankurou gasped. "The _skinhead_!? Temari, be _serious_! That kid's a punkass! And his friend is even freakier than him! What is that guy's name again? Whatever; it's not important! What the hell, Temari!"

Her cheeks flushed. "What does it matter!? Get the hell off my back or I'll kick you out of the car!"

"I'll just tell Dad you were with a boy last night!"

"He wouldn't believe you!"

"He'd believe _me_…"

Kankurou glanced back at Gaara in the back before turning his head back to Temari. "Yeah. Dad would believe Gaara."

Her cheeks flared, and she looked back at Gaara. "Alright, Gaara! I'm sorry, alright!? I know you get extremely over-protective, but Jesus! It's not that bad! One of these days you'll find a nice girl that _you_ want to have sex with!"

Kankurou chuckled, and she whirled on him. "What!? What do you think is so funny!? At least he'd get a _girl_! You're totally _gay_, Kankurou!"

Kankurou bit his lip. "You missed the turn-off for the student parking lot…"

She swore and kept going. "Just _great_. Now we have to go through the carpool lane just to get to the back of the school. _Shit_!"

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Temari leaned her head against the wheel, sighing in aggravation. "When is this kid going to go inside? He's been saying good-bye to that dog for _hours_."

Kankurou cleared his throat, looking at his watch. "It's only been eight minutes…"

Outside of the car, the boy was rubbing his dog on the head, positively heart-broken, as if the dog was going to get put down while he was at school. "Be a good dog, Akamaru! I'll be right home after school, I swear!" The dog barked. "Of course I'll miss you! You don't realize how much, boy!"

His mother shouted at him. "Kiba! You step away from the car and close the door before I drive off with it open! Kiba! Are you listening to me!? Jesus, Kiba! Get that dog back in the car so I can leave!"

"But Mom! He's so lonely at home!"

"He has your sister's dogs to play with and mine in the backyard!"

"Those are too old…and way too big! Akamaru's more playful than them! He'll _die_ without me!"

"He'll _die_ if I drive off and he falls underneath the tires, Kiba! Now get to school! We've got a _line_ forming behind us!"

He shut the door behind him and waved, and she started the car again. Temari and Kankurou both looked up with hopeful looks…until they saw the passenger's window rolling down. Kankurou spoke, unable to keep his eyes off it. "What the hell… I-Is that dog…"

The dog leapt from the open window, and the kid's mother slammed on the brakes, letting out the f-word as loud as possible. The boy–Kiba–whirled around, surprised to see the dog running after him. He grinned. "Cool! You learned how to roll the window down! You want to go to school with me, boy!?"

Kankurou's jaw dropped, as did his sister's. He turned to her, stunned. "Shit! Haven't they ever heard of child-proofing!?"

Gaara spoke from the back, sounding incredibly bored. "Too bad they never invented _dog_-proofing…"

Temari's eyes glowered, and she rammed her hand into the horn. "Fuck this shit. I'm going to be late to class if that kid doesn't move his ass." It started to blare, and immediately afterward all the cars behind her started in as well. Kiba turned, spooked, and the dog leapt into his hands, yelping. He glared at everyone in line as he stowed the dog back into the car and his mother rolled the window down.

The old bat drove off, and Temari gave a big sigh of relief. "Show this dillweed how we feel about his _poor_ little puppy, boys." As they drove off, the three siblings gave him the finger, and the boy's jaw dropped. After they passed, Kankurou burst into hysterics, and Temari let a smile make its way to her face; however, Gaara just simply stared back out the window at him.

"I know that kid. His name's Kiba Inuzuka. He's in my Chemistry class…"

Temari nodded. "I'll bet he's just annoying as _hell_."

Gaara sat back down, shrugging his shoulders. "Most of the time he's doodling pictures of dogs on his assignments…"

His siblings found this extremely funny, and both of them started to laugh. Gaara just stared out the window bitterly. He knew they'd have it out for him if he told them the boy was constantly making him do his homework for him.

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His first class–his _very_ first class–was Chemistry, and he _nearly_ skipped, had there not been one person in that class. That person was Shino, and he was one of the freshmen, one of Temari's friends at lunch. He was always wearing a trench coat no matter what the weather, and he was the only person that didn't annoy the hell out of him.

He went in, sliding into the seat next to Shino. The two almost never spoke, though there was some sort of unspoken kinship between them. He looked over at Shino, and Shino looked back at him, lowering his sunglasses ever so slightly. Gaara looked back at his desk. Shino always reminded him of that hit man in The Professional with that attire, though he doubted Shino took his advice and watched the movie. It had been the only thing he'd ever said to him, and he'd said it to him on Friday.

Shino leaned over. "Great movie."

Gaara looked at him, just slightly spooked. "Wh-What?"

"That movie you told me about. You remember? That one with the guy–Leon, the hit man. The one you said reminded you of me. Great movie, man." He nodded his head again, leaning back to his seat. He mouthed those words again, "Great movie," and went silent.

Gaara gave a forced smile, pulling out his folder. Shino was always…different…in how he spoke to people. He was much more direct, that was for sure. Though, at times he could be as cryptic as…as the Riddler.

Gaara stared at the folder, puling out his homework. He didn't want to come face-to-face with Kiba. He wasn't sure what would happen, but he wasn't sure he could take another day of Kiba's shit. He swore he'd probably kill him or something. That boy even _touched_ his desk looking for the homework, the douche bag was going down.

Kiba walked in, looking peeved. He went directly to Gaara's desk. He stared at him for a long moment, arms crossed over his chest. Finally, Gaara looked him in the eye. "What?"

Kiba smiled. "That homework. I want it. The Balancing Equations packet you said you'd do for me."

Gaara looked down. "…It's gone… I lost it."

Kiba just kept smiling, kept pushing. "…Gone? Then what's that right there…?" He pointed to a packet sitting on the folder on his desk–the homework. "That certainly looks like _the homework_…"

Gaara finally looked up. "I didn't do _yours_. That's what I meant."

Kiba went for it. "I'll just take yours and erase the name then."

Shino grabbed his hand before it could even touch Gaara's desk, and Kiba froze. He turned his head to the boy, making a sound that seemed like some sort of…whimper. "What…"

Shino just looked at him through the glasses. "I wouldn't go near him if I were you."

Kiba just smiled. "What's this, Shino? Now you've replaced me? We used to be friends, you know. Way back in middle school. But then you had a run-in with _him_ and his _sister_ and now we hardly ever talk. Why? He replaced me, didn't he? Therefore, I want what's rightfully mine. I want his homework. As payment for being your friend now."

Shino smiled, ever so lightly. He let go of his hand. "Do what you wish."

Kiba looked back over at the desk, finding no packet at all. The folder wasn't even there. He glared. "What the hell, Gaara? Where's your homework? Where is it so I can claim it as mine, huh? You _owe_ me! Especially after you and your piece of shit brother and sister gave me the finger this morning! Don't think I didn't know it was them! Don't think I didn't know you were doing it, too!"

Gaara stood in a hurry, his breathing heavy. He glared at him. "I didn't do your work. Go. Away."

Kiba stared at him for a moment, seeing the fury building in his eyes and the almost wild look forming in them. He took a step back. "…Alright." He turned and went to the opposite side of the room, next to one of his friends.

The teacher walked in and class started. During class, when the teacher's back was turned, Kiba rolled up a piece of paper and threw it at him. The teacher turned back around, suspicious. After a while he shrugged, turning back to the board. Shino just glanced at Gaara, staring at that wad of paper. He leaned over.

"Don't let it get to you. He'll stop if you leave him alone. He's just doing this to get you riled up so you'll get in trouble…"

Gaara looked back at Kiba, just in time for a paper ball to come flying right at his head. He flinched as it bounced off of his forehead, right over his left eye, and there were a few stifled laughs on the other side of the class. The teacher turned to that side of the room. "Hey. Quiet down."

Gaara's face reddened, and he unrolled the piece of paper, pulling out a red pen and a pencil. He scribbled in a quick picture of Temari's Jetta and then Kiba's dog behind it, X's for eyes. He opened the red pen, drawing a scribble of lines from the tires of the car, and finally all the way over to underneath the dog and all over its middle. He crumpled it back up, looking at the teacher. The teacher's back was turned, and he took a chance, tossing it at the dog-lover.

Nothing happened, and Kiba glared at him before looking at the paper, curious. He unrolled it, staring at the picture on it. He stood in a hurry, knocking over his desk and the empty desk behind him. "I'll fucking kill you if you lay a finger on my dog, you shithead!" He was screaming, but his eyes were absolutely terrified.

The teacher turned. "Kiba! I will _not_ tolerate your little outbursts in this classroom! Go see the Principal! Now!" He went to his desk, taking out a slip of paper. Shino stifled a laugh as Kiba ripped the paper from the teacher's hands and went sulking out of the room, glaring daggers at Gaara. One look at Shino and his face collapsed, looking sorely betrayed.

Shino leaned over toward Gaara. "Nice one."

Gaara stared at the boy for a long moment, even after he'd gone back to looking at the front board. Something twisted in his stomach. This was why he hated getting close to people. They always changed their minds so easily, stopped being friends, stopped talking to them. He'd been bullied most of his life, so he never really had any friends…other than his siblings and one girl who happened to befriend him. But she was gone now.

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Lunch was starting, and Gaara was lucky he'd gotten there early for his lunch. He barely ate any of the food he got, being much too picky for that, but the people he sat with always finished off the food. He was currently picking at a burger from the lunch line.

He sat with his sister. If he'd had a choice in the matter, he would've sat by himself. Instead, he got stuck sitting with her and her friends…who were weird. She herself had always been weird–choosing to wear weird fashions and boots and hoodies, short skirts she refused to bring down to knee-length so she could show off her fishnetted legs. Despite the fact that their father was rich, she'd gone out of her way to only buy things from second-hand shops, and she was always finding what she thought were the coolest things. The biggest oddity about her currently was the fact that she had her hair pulled back into pigtails…and she'd gotten dreadlocks.

Shino Aburame sat with them, and he was always wearing that trench coat and shades. He really only talked to Dosu, and the two seemed to connect very easily. He had a thing against Zaku, though, and Gaara felt it had something to do with the fact that Zaku was a bit arrogant, claiming how great he was all hours of the day.

Abumi Zaku was always piercing his face–though he had to take them out during school–and ears. He kept the earrings in…and the tongue piercing that the teachers rarely paid attention to, despite the fact that he was always flapping his mouth. He was also always wearing torn up clothes and studded jackets, dyeing his hair various colours–it was currently green, and had been for quite some time–and shaving it into a mohawk. His mohawk was growing back, since the teachers thought it was inappropriate…as if the green hair _was_. When he wasn't hanging out with Sakura and Dosu, he was hanging out with Kin, a girl in band. They were childhood friends, all three of them–Dosu, Kin, and Zaku.

Kinuta Dosu was a skinhead, as Kankurou had delicately put it. He'd shaved his head and pierced his ears. His hair was growing back ever since a few of the teachers were worried he actually _was_ a neo-Nazi and told him to grow it back. He was always wearing a trench coat as well, though his were usually lined with fur. He also had a penchant for wearing cut off gloves everywhere, and he looked like a real punk–like he made sure they were black so the blood wouldn't stain them red. Gaara really wondered what that guy saw in his sister, and what his sister saw in _him_, apparently.

Another person who sat with them was Sakura Haruno. Apparently she'd been best friends with Ino Yamanaka–the head cheerleader–when they were younger, but they'd grown apart shortly after entering middle school…when they both met Sasuke Uchiha–the school's pretty boy. Sakura was always dyeing her hair and wearing things with pink in them. Pink was her favorite colour, and it showed with what her hair had been for the past four months–a record, for her. She, though she usually talked with Shino, was always hanging around Zaku. They would skip school and go to the arcade, though Gaara was pretty sure they weren't involved. They were together so often, most people just referred to them collectively as "The Watermelon".

Currently, Sakura was sitting down beside him, Zaku following shortly after. His sister showed up, and after that Dosu, then Shino. Temari was shaking her head sadly. "Gaara, you changed spots again. We had to go look for you…"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh look, there goes Ino trying to talk to Hinata …"

All of their eyes turned to the girl sitting at the very end of the cafeteria, completely alone at one half of a table, her head buried in a book when she should've been eating. It was Great Expectations. That girl was Hinata Hyuuga, daughter of some guy that got rich after inventing a new type of contact lenses that could be worn up to three days without being taken out and without drying out one's eyes. She was very soft-spoken, short in stature, very pale and had soft-looking chin-length hair. Gaara had always thought she was a little bit cute.

Ino walked up, sitting right in front of her. Sakura grinned. "She probably wants her to go sit with them. Poor Pig-nose. Too bad she doesn't realize I've already tried that before… She probably thinks she'll get through to her when I couldn't and totally throw it in my face."

Zaku grinned. "Why do you call her Pig-nose again?"

"Because she's always got her chin upturned, looking down her nose at everyone who tries to talk to her. You can see straight up that thing!" Her eyes glowered bitterly.

Temari smiled. "We can't all be kind, Sakura, dear. At least, not as kind as you…"

Sakura gave her the finger, wanting to watch the entire thing playing out.

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Ino walked over timidly, sitting down in front of Hinata. "Hey…do you like that book you're reading?"

Hinata looked up, her face flushing. "W-Well…kind of. I'm…reading it for class…"

There was a long silence as she turned back to her book, deep in thought, trying to keep her breathing steady.

"Do you want to sit with us?"

Hinata looked back up, surprised. "Wh-What? Oh…I'm…I'm fine…" She looked back down at her book, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks and trying to quell the urge to cry. She stared at it, hoping they'd go away. She was so nervous…

"Oh, I'm sorry." Ino chuckled. "I didn't see you were busy reading… I'm sorry for interrupting you."

Hinata looked up, suddenly desperate. "N-No. It's fine. You weren't…interrupting anything…" She looked back at her book, hoping Ino would go away, hoping Ino would stay and talk to her, hoping everything and nothing at all. She just wanted to stop feeling so nervous.

Ino gave a strained smile, standing up. She pointed back to her table with her thumb. "If you ever want someone to sit with, you know where to find us…"

She got up and left, back to the table right across the aisle. Hinata watched her go before she went back to her book, full of worry. They were talking about her–she knew it. They probably thought she was stuck-up and everything… But everything was fine…she was starting to feel the heat in her cheeks go down, the urge to cry diminishing, the anxiety dissipating. She took a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and went back to her book, suddenly immersed in Charles Dickens's overly-detailed writing.

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Gaara stared at her for the longest time, unable to keep his eyes off. Now _that_ was terrible. He was glad his sister forced her to sit with him, now. If he had to go through that, he'd probably just _die_. He turned back to his sister's friends, who were on to some other subject. He glanced over next to him at Shino, who was still staring. He went back to his food, hoping Shino hadn't noticed.

After a few minutes, he looked over just in time to see Shino give another quick glance in Hinata's direction. He wouldn't dare say anything to him about it, but he stared at him a bit longer than he should have, and Shino looked at him, voicing the question in his mind.

"Why am I staring at her? When we were in middle school, me and Kiba tried to befriend her. He got our group together and sat down right around her. Things were going terribly. She was lost in some book, looking like she was avoiding us on purpose. Finally, Kiba accidentally threw a water bottle across the table and it landed right in front of her. The entire table went quiet, but she didn't move an inch. One of the boys grabbed it, waving his hand in front of her face, in front of the book. She tensed up even more, her eyes growing misty. One boy asked if she was a statue, and finally Kiba looked over at her. He asked her if she actually said anything, if she didn't want friends or something. She immediately got up and ran to the bathroom. I assume she cried. I never forgave Kiba for his stupid mouth."

Gaara went red. "Wait, _that's_ why you're no longer his friend?"

Shino smiled. "Mostly. But there were other reasons, too."

"His _dog_ sure is annoying…"

Everyone sitting there looked up to see Sakon and Ukon, the twins people swore had the same exact mind, standing side-by-side, watching them. Sakon spoke next. "We heard a rumor that you upset Kiba, Gaara…"

Ukon snickered. "We were outside Tsunade's office, and we heard him shouting about a drawing of his dog getting killed."

"Yeah. Great idea. His dog's annoying as hell. It keeps digging under our fence and barking at the back door."

"Once we kicked the crap out of it and placed it back in his yard. He was none the wiser. He got really mad."

Sakon started to laugh. "He thought his mother's one-eared Nazi-dog hurt it. He called her a bitch…"

Ukon began to giggle uncontrollably. "The name sure is fitting, right? They're obsessed with dogs…so his mother's a bitch… Then he accused his best friend of doing it."

Sakon grabbed his brother and started walking away, snickering. "Poor guy told his friend to go screw himself and went back to his dog… Sometimes I wonder if him and that dog are one in the same…"

"I wouldn't be surprised, brother."

The group watched them go, and Temari put a hand over her mouth, biting back the urge to laugh. "_I_ wouldn't be surprised if those two were conjoined at birth…"

Sakura and Zaku burst out laughing, and Dosu snickered. Gaara just stared at his sister, lost in thought. People were always so cruel to people they didn't know. Even his sister was making fun of those two, even Shino and Kiba–who were friends at one point–now hated each other. Love, hate, sadness, anger. He really didn't want anything to do with them. The only one he'd ever felt any sort of connection to was Matsuri, and she didn't live here anymore. She'd left him, just like everyone parted ways eventually. That's why he didn't want to be a part of relationships, of _love_–of anything having to do with superfluous, ever-changing emotions.

After a while, Shino looked back over at him, face cold. "I wouldn't trust those two." Gaara just stared at him. He wouldn't trust anyone at the table, except for Temari. And after she'd gone and slept with Dosu, he wasn't even sure he could trust _her_…

He eyed Dosu for a long, long time, bringing his can of lemonade to his lips. There was something about him he didn't like. Dosu caught eyes with his sister and leaned over, whispering something in her ear. She giggled, her cheeks flushing pink. His hand clenched, and the can was crushed, lemonade going everywhere. Shino was the only one who noticed.

He stood, taking his food and crushed can and tossing it in the trash. He left the cafeteria, unable to stay there any longer. He was having the hardest time suppressing the urge to kill that freak. He went immediately into the school library, hiding away in the reference section.


	2. The White Glove

_This chapter brings up one of the most favorite parts of my life–the library ordeals. I always had so much fun talking with my friends in the library. There was always one person the librarian kept looking at because they were being too loud and one person who'd snuck something in they shouldn't have. Usually it was the Game Boys and stuff, though quite a few times it was food as well. _

_I'll never forget when me and two of my friends got kicked out of the library (this was my senior year). The librarians said we were making too much noise (and we were), so we got sent to the lunchroom. We all sat down, completely quiet the rest of the time. I started working on an art present for my sempai (Her birthday is St. Patrick's Day), and three teachers walked up. One of them was going on about how my friend had such lovely blue eyes and how none of us could've done any wrong because we were acting so well-behaved. My old dance teacher was there, and she saw me drawing and started bragging that I was one of her students at one point. It was the best getting-out-of-trouble scenarios I'd ever been a part of. None of them could've believed I'd actually picked up my short friend and spun her around a few times to get her to stop blowing in my ear. (She was SO dizzy afterwards. Ha ha.)_

* * *

**A Quiet Mind  
**_The White Glove  
_

He was hiding in the reference section when he heard a few hushed whispers a section over, where there were a few tables set out. He looked up, peeking over the side, through a few books on display. There were three boys–all of them in his grade.

There was Chouji Akimichi, the big eater and gamer on campus. He always either had a bag of chips in one hand or a game system. In this case, he'd snuck some chips into the library and was eating them as he played on his DS Lite.

Next to him was Shikamaru Nara, the gamer's lifelong best friend. The boy was pretty much leader of the chess club, even after it was his first year joining. Mr. Asuma Sarutobi, a history teacher, was the one that led the club, and they were always in his classroom on Wednesdays, playing chess and discussing various strategies.

Across the table from them was Naruto Uzumaki, an anime nerd and a card game nut. He was always talking, and most people found him aggravating beyond belief. Gaara had heard somewhere he had a rough time growing up, but how he managed to stay optimistic was anyone's guess. He was currently involved in some delicate-looking card game with Shikamaru.

"Chouji, quiet down with those chips, man. The librarian will kill us if she finds you eating those…" He let out a big yawn, wiping a tear squeezed from the corner of his eye.

The offending eater munched down on another handful of chips. "You know I can't play this game without some food in me. And you got me to skip lunch already. I'm starving!"

"Geez. I swear, you'd devour the entire school if people were made out of fried potatoes… Haven't you ever heard of moderation? But don't worry–when Hinata gets in here, she'll probably sneak in some food in that giant coat of hers… You can always eat then…"

Naruto's voice rose. "Yeah! Hinata's always late! I don't know why; she never eats lunch anyway!"

Shikamaru shushed him. "Quiet, Naruto. The librarian will hear us. And I don't know why she goes to lunch anyway. We always tell her we'll be here for her. She's just determined not to get in trouble…" He let out another big yawn, and Chouji finally looked over.

"Late night, eh? You were up late beating Gears of War, weren't you?"

Shikamaru smirked, as if there was something no one knew going on. "Oh yeah. You could say I was up to some games last night. I snuck out of the house around midnight. I won't go into details, but it was a pretty great night… I _totally_ bagged me a hottie. And get this_–she's older than us._" He smirked again, puffing his chest out a little, proud of himself.

Gaara watched them, surprised. So even Hinata had friends? Even the quiet girl that froze up when anyone walked up to her had _friends_? It was a wonder no one figured it out by now. It was sure to be big news, considering the amount of people going up and trying to get her to talk…

"I–I…I'm here…"

He turned his eyes to the side, where Hinata was walking up, book in hand. She smiled at them lightly, taking a spot next to Naruto. "I'm sorry I was late… I… Well, I-Ino came up and tried to get me to sit with them…"

Naruto was positively lively at the sight of her. "Good thing you didn't or else you wouldn't've been able to sit with us! Besides, Ino would've torn you a new asshole if you sat with them!"

Chouji looked at him, disgusted. "N-_Naruto_! You don't have to use _that_ language!"

Naruto's face cringed. "What!? She's nothing but mean to anyone she thinks is able to be stepped all over!"

Chouji looked at the girl, ignoring Naruto's outburst again and sniffing the air. "Did you get any food while you were in the lunchroom?"

She shook her head sadly. "N-No…but…" She looked over at Shikamaru, hopeful he'd give her some sort of support. "But I ran into Neji on the way over here…"

Shikamaru turned to her, eyes going dark. "Geez, that jerk. He didn't do anything, did he? I can't believe he'd do something like that to his own family. How old were you again?"

She blushed. "I-It was third grade…so…so it w-wasn't that big of a deal…"

"Still, you don't just shove someone on the ground and nearly break their foot just because they say a single word to you. That's rude…" He looked over at Naruto, bored. "Your move, Naruto."

Naruto looked down, cursing sorely. "Ah man! I could've gotten you if you had made a completely different move! The whole game would've been over and I would've been playing Chouji!"

Shikamaru just gave him a pleasing smile. "Of course. That's why you always make sure you have a back-up plan."

Naruto played a card, turning it sideways and rolling a dice. "Shit. I knew it."

Shikamaru smiled, playing his move. He glanced over at Hinata, a slight look of concern on his face. "You're still okay, right? With Neji and all… I mean, he didn't do anything to scare you…did he?"

She shook her head, putting her head in her hands and staring at them as they played their card game. "I was going to read my book, but I'm too engrossed with your game. What…um…Wh-What game is it again?" Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched slightly at her sudden change in the subject.

Shikamaru placed a card down. "Magic the Gathering. Hey, you've never played, right? How about you play winner? I'll teach you…" But he'd never bring it up when she was so unwilling to talk about it.

Naruto growled. "I haven't lost yet, damn it!"

Shikamaru pointed to his card, and Naruto stood, enraged. "You cheater! You took that from your sleeve!"

Shikamaru looked at his arms, at the sleeves that were hanging by his shoulders, nowhere near his hands, where he could have hidden a card. "No. I didn't. You just lost and are being sore about it."

Naruto scooted over, grumbling something. Hinata took his place, ready to learn. Right as Shikamaru was teaching her the placement of the cards and the different intricacies in the game, Gaara dropped his new toy, and it went rolling into that section. He cursed, bending down and crawling over to the very edge, watching it there…naked…exposed to anyone's foot.

What he did _not_ expect was Naruto walking over and picking it up, exclaiming excitedly. "Are you serious!? This is the last one in my collection! Awesome! I've been eating at McDonald's for three weeks trying to get this one, but I keep getting the red one! Man, I _love_ these things!"

Shikamaru stifled a laugh. "Naruto, you're an even bigger nerd than I thought. I suppose you still like old shows like Power Rangers, too? Are you a closet My Little Pony fan?"

Naruto turned around to yell something back just as Gaara stood, eyes wide. "Wait. That's mine." He grabbed it from Naruto's hands, and Naruto turned to him, stunned.

His jaw dropped. "Wha…_Gaara_?!"

The bell rang, and Gaara practically dashed out of the room. Shikamaru stood, helping Hinata out of her seat. Chouji stood as well, stowing his chips away in his jacket. Naruto ran over to them. "D-Did you see that!? Gaara likes Hot Wheels! _Gaara_, the brother of that weird Temari chick, the same kid who sits with _Sakura_ at lunch, likes _Hot Wheels_!!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Wow. That's…amazing? I figured he had something weird about him…"

Naruto gasped. "Weird!? That's freakin' awesome!" He looked back at the doors to the library, where Gaara had dashed out of, determined. "I'm making him my best friend, guys. Just you wait. He'll come around."

Chouji and Shikamaru shared a skeptical look, and Hinata nodded her head a little, completely believing in him.

"Of course he will, N-Naruto."

–––––––––––––––––

Kankurou was walking around the black box, setting up for an enthralling lesson after lunch and ignoring all of the crashing of boxes around him. He looked off to the side, where there was a puppet stand set up and little marionettes hanging on the corner. He bit his lip, looking back at the ground. After a while, he tried to hide a smile on his face and went over to it, grabbing one in each hand. He looked down on them below, making them move. One was a classic–an old woman with a wart on her nose, almost like the yodeler in the Sound of Music–and the other was slightly more modern–an alien.

He smirked as he made them talk back and forth, his voice going monotone and glassy for the alien, and his voice a scratchy British falsetto for the old lady.

"I've come to abduct you, Earth woman."

"No way, you bloody fascist alien scum! You're not getting yer probes anywhere near _my_ bum!"

"Earth woman, I wouldn't probe you if you were the last earthling on the planet… I must abduct you for dissection…"

"I've already had that when my first son was born, ye wanker! I have the scar to prove it!"

"You old hag, not C-Section, _di_ssection. It means we're going to kill you and examine your organs for harvestable meats and the answers to science…"

"Constable Harris! Constable Harris! There's a green man posing as an alien here come to check out me privates! We've got a bloody pervert in the neighborhood!"

Someone in front of him giggled, and he dropped them immediately, flushing red. He looked up to see a girl with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, two strands of hair falling in front of her eyes. She was extremely pale and very pretty. She giggled again, walking over to him. It was Hana, a senior, like his sister.

"My my, Kankurou. You're actually pretty creative when it comes to stuff like this… Haven't you ever given a thought to acting in the school plays?"

He shoved his hands behind his back, kicking the ground anxiously. "N-No…Not really… I mean…I don't really want to because…I'd suddenly become popular and people would start talking… I mean! No, n-not that I'd suddenly become popular because I had a lead role, but still… I'd hate to see my name on paper…"

She smiled. "You're a techie, right? Your name is already on the hand-outs at every play…"

He smiled a little. "Well…I just haven't given it a thought or anything…"

She went over to him, leaning against the wall next to where he was standing, by the puppet stand. "You like comedy movies?"

He stuttered a little, shaking his head at first before he realized what he was doing and nodded his head fervently. "Y-Yes! I love movies, but comedies are the best! Monty Python movies are my favorite!" He broke out into the lumberjack song in his excited state, and she just watched with eager eyes until he reached the part about dressing in women's clothing and hanging around in bars. A few people stopped what they were doing and gave him strange looks, and he gasped, shutting his mouth.

His face went beyond red, and Hana stepped away from the wall. "You're a funny guy, Kankurou. We're having auditions for A Midsummer Night's Dream tomorrow at five. I hope I'll see you there…"

She shot a little wave to him and his face darkened further. His voice broke as he responded. "I-I'll be there!"

He watched her walk off, his heart beating a mile a minute and a smile slowly creeping onto his face. Wow…she was so great… He couldn't believe the girl who'd been the lead role in the past three school plays thought he had potential…

–––––––––––––––––––

Gaara sat in his seat, dreading the very idea of what would happen when Naruto would walk in that door. He had his English class with Naruto, and he was terrified the boy'd try and take his car back. But it was _his_–none of that _finder's keeper's_ crap.

Sasuke walked in, taking his seat at the back of the classroom. Sasuke Uchiha was an enigma, almost as much as him. There were rumors circulating about him, of course, as there were with anyone who was that mysterious and popular all at once, but the biggest rumor in circulation was the fact that he had a thing for Neji Hyuuga. Of course, it was probably Neji making up the whole thing…

But how was one to know Sasuke _wasn't_ checking out Neji in the locker room after practice?

Gaara stared at him for a while until Ino traipsed in, collapsing in the seat next to him. She fluttered her eyelashes, hoping he'd look her way. After a long, long while, she simply reached over and…touched his hand. "Sasuke…I heard a rumor recently…"

He recoiled instantly, snapping. "What rumor!?"

She just fluttered her eyelashes at him, taking his defensiveness as him just being shy. "You've already picked someone to ask to the spring dance…"

He relaxed considerably, frowning a little and looking toward his desk. "Well, you heard wrong. There's no way I'm going to some stupid dance. Not even prom…"

All of the girls in the room gasped, and Ino stared at him as if he was crazy. "Not even _prom_!? Are you crazy!? Who doesn't want to go to _prom_!? Sasuke, you _must_ let me help you experience the beauty of formal dances!" She extended her hand to him again. "Take me to the spring dance, and I'll show you what it means to be in love…"

He gave her an insipid look, an aggravated look in his eyes. "You're too…overdramatic. I like more _realistic_ girls."

Girls around the room started to talk amongst each other, frantic. Ino lowered her hand, caught off-guard by his blunt statement. "Well I…" She swallowed. "I can be… I can be realistic, _too_, Sasuke. You just…haven't gotten me alone!"

Shino walked in just in time to see her react, hear her statement. He took the spot next to Gaara, stating matter-of-factly, "The only thing realistic about you is your obsession with appearances. You know, you should probably eat more. You probably think you're too skinny so you barely eat, but it makes you look really unhealthy and unattractive, Ino."

She turned to him and stood, her lips curling up in a sneer. "Was I _talking_ to you, you freak? So what if I'm _skinny_? I'm going to be a _model_. Models are _skinny_. Sure you'd prefer a girl who was fat and had large thighs, but no one cares what _you_ want. You're a loser." She laughed, her hand over her lips. "It's too bad Sakura's totally your type. That means Sasuke's all mine."

Sasuke shot her a look that clearly told her she was completely wrong over that little detail, though no one picked up on it…except for Gaara and Shino. Shino just gave Ino a small smile, turning his face to Sasuke. "You should totally ask her out, Sasuke. She's been primping for days now…"

Sasuke stared at him for a moment before he realized who Shino was talking about and went red, his eyes falling back to his desk. Ino took it the wrong way and smiled, sitting down and leaning over to touch her potential man again. "Of course I have! I'm the only one he'd _ever_ want to go with!"

Shino just smiled, looking back at his desk and shaking his head. That's when Naruto dashed in, his eyes immediately shooting straight to Gaara. He walked over, took the spot in the desk in front of him. Shino groaned, putting his head in his hands. He, like most of the other kids at school, thought Naruto was the most annoying thing in the world.

Gaara stared at him for the longest time, before Naruto finally turned around and spoke. He held his finger out, pointing at him. "You're my new best friend."

The redhead's jaw threatened to drop, and he looked over at Shino incredulously. Shino was staring at Naruto like he was crazy, and when Gaara turned to look at everyone in class, they were sharing the same looks. He stared at Naruto for a long time before he scooted his desk back a little. "E-Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You're my new best friend. You like the same thing I do."

Ino stifled a laugh. "What? _Men_?"

Everyone in class started to laugh, and Naruto glared at them. "Yeah yeah, make your jokes. You'll all be sorry when I'm president of the school board and I'm screwing your kid's asses."

Ino put a hand to her mouth. "So you're a pedophile, too?" The room burst into hysterics again.

"Screw them over! That's what I meant and you know it, Pig-nose!"

The second those words left his mouth, Sasuke made a coughing noise that sounded strangely like a laugh building up, but he clamped his hand over his mouth. Ino glanced at him before giving Naruto a sour look. She turned her chin up, staring at him down her nose. "At least I'll amount to something."

Naruto just pushed his finger against his nose, shoving it up, flaring his nostrils. He made an oinking sound that sent the room into another fit of hysterics. "Like that piece of crap flower business your parents run? Maybe you can dress up like a daisy and whore yourself out when it goes bankrupt."

The blonde stood again, her eyes ablaze. "At least I _have_ parents, you fucking orphan!"

Everyone gasped and the other blond stood, glaring at her. Finally, he sat back down, giving her a placid smile. "Got me there." He laughed again, though Gaara could tell it was strained. Shino just shook his head, sighing a little.

Naruto turned back to Gaara, his eyes dark, though that same smile was plastered on his face. "Just know– You're my new best friend."

He whirled back around to his desk, pulling out a folder and starting to doodle on it absentmindedly. Their teacher stormed in, flushed and looking like he'd run into the building. "Sorry I'm late, kids, but I had to make a few copies for you all! This reading material is very close to me, seeing as how I wrote it. I want you kids to read it and discuss the prose, got it?"

They all nodded as Ino took her seat again. "Yes, Mr. Jiraiya."

He passed out the reading material, some of it looking like he'd stapled twice in his rush to get to class on time. Gaara grabbed his paper, rolling his eyes. Amateur writing, huh? It was probably complete crap. His eyes looked it over.

"_His hand trailed up her thigh, up the length of her skirt, as he went for the waistband of her panties. As he pulled them down to her ankles, her breathing hitched, and she gripped his shoulders tighter."_

His face changed from one of disinterest to utter horror. His face shot up, and he saw all of the girls were staring at the words on the page, those same looks of horror on their faces. The boys in the class were staring at the writing, hunger welling up in their hormonal eyes, until finally Ino raised her hand.

Jiraiya looked interested, hopeful she'd have some helpful criticism. "Yes, Miss Yamanaka?"

"What the hell is this _shit_?"

His face fell as a few of the girls started to complain, and he smiled. "Just some…writing I have that I was hoping a few young minds could give me some input on…"

"Kids our age shouldn't be reading this garbage, Mr. Jiraiya! We have standards, we have _morals_! How _dare_ you give us _this_ to read for class! I'm telling my father, damn it! I hope he tells Principal Tsunade and gets your ass fired! You're not a teacher at all! You're just a…just a…just a _pervert_!" A few of the girls started to agree with her, going so far as to call him a 'fucking pervert'.

Sasuke raised his hand, and all of the girls went completely silent. Ino just turned to him, utterly shocked. Jiraiya's face lifted, he pointed at him. "Yes, Uchiha! What are your thoughts!?"

"There's an error on page two. In paragraph five, you said 'pulling member' rather than 'pulsing'." Jiraiya immediately went over, looking at where he was pointing.

"So you're right! Ten extra credit points for Sasuke!"

All of the girls stood, and Ino stared directly at him. "What the hell, Sasuke!? I'd have thought you were above this shit!"

Sasuke just stared at her, giving her a cool look. "I can't help it if I hate typos."

"But you _read_ it, Sasuke!"

Shino raised his hand. Jiraiya went to him, hands clasped. "Yes, Aburame…"

The trench coat-garbed boy pointed to a part of the paragraph. "Well, I really don't think this is passionate enough. I mean, it says he's been watching her at the spa for a while, but it never says anything about him getting a job _for_ her. Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence for it to _just_ be a coincidence? Why not make him get the job there _for_ her?"

Jiraiya stared at it for a while, before a smile crept onto his face. "That's genius. I can't believe I never thought of that! Ten points for you as well, Shino!"

"What the hell, freak!?"

Shino just looked at Ino, a timid look on his face. "I didn't think it was romantic enough, was that a crime?"

"Hell y-y-yes…" Ino started to yell, but stuttered. She glanced at the paper on her desk, suddenly interested in what those boys were making such a big deal about. She sat back down, started to read it, and when she reached page two, she gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "Are you _serious_!? _That_ big!? Oh my God!!" Her cheeks flushed red.

Jiraiya smiled. "Oh, great! I'm glad you liked it! I want to make these more accessible to women, too, you know. Mostly I get men buying these, but more women need to realize just how great erotic novels are… And I don't mean those shitty harlequin romances you can buy at the grocery store…"

A few of the girls stared at Ino, soon also becoming interested. They all set to reading it, and by the end of the last page, they were in complete awe. One of the girls in the very back burst into tears. "That's so beautiful. I'll never think of a hot towel treatment the same way again…"

Gaara just stared at them all like they were a bunch of morons. Was there _anyone_ here who was concerned with the fact that a teacher had just gotten his entire class to read porn!? Anyone _besides_ him!?

Naruto raised his hand. Before Jiraiya could even call on him, he cleared his throat. "This _porn_ is great and all, but you're still a pervert, Mr. Jiraiya. This whole thing probably comes from experience. Watching women in _spas_? That's low."

Jiraiya's cheeks reddened and he took a spot on his desk. "Well, it helps with reading material, you know…"

Naruto grumbled, still pissed at what Ino had said earlier. "Still. You're a pervert. If this is all we're going to do, I'm just going to read manga. I'd get the same amount of knowledge from that."

Shino stifled a laugh, and Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at him. "If you read comics in class, you won't learn anything at all."

Shino bit his lip, nearly drawing blood, to keep himself from laughing, and Naruto just stared at the teacher. "Exactly."

––––––––––––––––––

Gaara sighed, walking out to the parking lot. He'd managed to avoid Naruto for the rest of the day, but now all he wanted to do was go home. He was looking out for Temari's car when Itachi Uchiha drove up, and the youngest Uchiha went over to his brother's car, disgruntled he still hadn't asked the _one_ girl he wanted to ask to the spring dance.

From behind him, there came a loud shout. "Hey Sasuke! Your brother's more of a man than you'll ever be!"

Sasuke froze, looking back at all of the people standing around, talking. He spied the first person looking his way and stormed over. Right over to Gaara.

"What the fuck do you think gives you the right to say that to me, Gaara? Your _sister_'s more of a man than _you'll_ ever be, you piece of shit. Tomorrow at lunch–your ass is _mine_. You hear me? I'm going to Kick. Your. Ass."

He stormed off, back to his brother's car, and Gaara looked behind him in a hurry to see Dosu staring at him with the most shocked expression on his face ever. It made his skin crawl, seeing him there. Dosu grabbed him by the shoulder. "What the hell!? Why is he challenging _you_ to a fight!? I'm the one that said it!"

Gaara pulled out of his grip. He wanted to demand what Dosu had against Sasuke, why he'd go and get him involved in a _fight_ he didn't want to be a part of. Had he wanted to fight Sasuke all along or something? What the hell was going on…?

"Gaara! Come on! It's time to go home!"

His head spun quickly to see Kankurou standing by the car with a rolled up booklet in his hand, waving his hand at him, throwing his hand toward the car, like he was leading him in with the booklet. Gaara practically dashed into the car, throwing himself into the back seat, chest pounding, breathing heavy. Temari looked back at him.

"You alright, Gaara?"

The very sight of his sister brought up a swirl of emotions related to that…to that _skinhead_, and he opened the door next to him and stuck his head out, promptly hurling.


	3. A Declaration of War

_Kankurou is totally the punching bag. Anywhere. I really don't think there's anyone in that show that makes a better punching bag than Puppet-boy. Well…except for maybe Tobi. But Tobi is a good boy, and Kankurou's…not?_

_And it's the first time any of the siblings refer to their father as "Daddy". I'd like to say that's significant somehow…but I really don't know why I decided to have Temari say "Daddy". Oh well. If any of you have any better ideas, feel free to let me know._

* * *

**A Quiet Mind**  
_A Declaration of War  
_

Kankurou was in his room, running lines and peering at his facial expressions in the mirror, trying to get it _just_ right, when Temari slammed the door open, livid.

"Kankurou, you butthole! I can't concentrate on helping Gaara with you running lines like that! He was very upset after school today! You should be more concerned!"

Kankurou could not find it in him to feel that angry over the situation. Or concerned. All he knew was that he'd never even _tried_ acting before and he was going to be trying out for Shakespeare, something most people trained for years for before they got good at it. "Temari, I'm trying out for Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. You know how hard Shakespeare is, right? Well, I met this girl…and…"

She stifled a laugh. "You met a _girl_!? Who is she, Kankurou!? I'll bet she's that nerd Shiho!"

"No. It's Hana. The girl who always stars in the school plays."

Temari's jaw dropped. "Hana!? But she's…she's _gorgeous_! How'd a girl like that take interest in a _dork_ like you!? Besides, you're too young for her! She's a senior and you're just a sophomore!"

He flushed. "I…I made her laugh…"

Temari jut rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just…go out to the park and practice your lines. I'm trying to avoid having to bring it to Daddy's attention that Gaara threw up after school. He'll probably set up an appointment with that _terrible_ shrink again and Gaara will have to go through more unnecessary therapy!"

"That therapy was _not_ unnecessary! Gaara already has terrible nightmares, but after that whole kidnapping he started having night terrors! What the hell do you mean–unnecessary therapy!? Gaara's _fucked_ up, Temari! Even more than you or I will ever realize! I say let Dad find out! Gaara's not ready to stop the therapy yet!"

There was a noise from the hallway and both siblings turned to see Gaara staring directly at them, eyes glowering. He turned his head, stalking off down the stairs to go get a granola bar from the top of the fridge.

Temari looked back at Kankurou, eyes narrowing. She shoved him hard, and he fell backwards onto the bed. She stormed out of the room, following their little brother. "I take that back, Kankurou. You're a _fucktard_."

He yelled back at her. "Hey! You were talking about him behind his back, too!"

––––––––––––––––––

Kankurou stomped out of the house, off toward the park near where they lived. He hated walking by that park, because those annoying brats would be there, loitering. They thought that's what cool kids did, but they were completely wrong. All they wound up doing was stand around and look like little spoiled brats…and yell names at him.

He had heard one of them was related to the president of the school board, and also to one of the teachers at school, but he had yet to see any proof.

He stormed over to the swings, pulling out the script he'd picked up after class. He didn't know who to try out for. He thought Puck was pretty cool, but he wasn't witty enough to play the part of Puck. Nor was he popular enough. It was a well-known fact that all the lead roles were taken by the popular kids, even if they did a crappy job.

"Hey, look! It's the Cat in the Hat!"

He swore, looking up to see the three little snots running up to him. One of them–the leader–tackled him, sending the swing flying back. It swung back around, nearly missing the kid as he ducked underneath the moving projectile. Kankurou was caught off guard, and he wound up flying off, hitting flat on the ground, loose dirt going up his nose and the little shreds of wood cutting up his face.

He glared, standing and getting as much of the crap out of his nose as he could, dusting himself off in the process. "What the hell, you little brat! I said to leave me alone!"

The boy straightened the goggles on his forehead, pointing at him. "Oh _ho_! But you're on _our_ turf now, Cat-boy!"

Kankurou groaned, putting his hands on his hips. "This is a public park, you little brat."

The kid struck a pose. "I'm not a little brat! My name's Konohamaru, and you've just crossed the wrong person! Me and my squad, Konohamaru Corps., are gonna whoop your ass for trespassing!"

Kankurou tossed him a look, rolling his eyes. "Oh, like a bunch of middle-schoolers are gonna kick _my_ ass. Are you three even _in_ middle school?" He walked over to the leader, shoving him on the ground. "You're not even fit to talk to me, kid."

Konohamaru fell on his rump, shooting the older boy a look. "You'll pay for that, you jerk!"

Kankurou just smirked. "What, you're going to go rat me out to your grandpa? He can do jackshit to me. I go to a _public_ school. That means I have to go there unless I do enough damage at _school_." He looked around, taking in his surroundings, before he looked back at the kid. "Looks like the school's nowhere to be seen, kid. I'm not going to get expelled at all." He smirked, putting his hands on his hips. He looked at the other two–a girl with some sort of weird double-beehive thing going on and a kid with glasses who looked like his nose was encrusted with a thick layer of snot. He chuckled. "Wow. Compared to your friends, you really _are_ an angel, aren't you?"

The younger boy swore, getting up and throwing himself at Kankurou. "Don't you _dare_ talk bad about my friends, you jerk!"

He collided with Kankurou, who didn't even budge. Kankurou shrugged. "Sorry kid. You're just not strong enough."

Something hit him in the back of the head and he winced, turning around at the culprit. "Was that a _rock_!? Who the hell threw that!?"

Sasuke Uchiha stared back at him, only half-amused. He had another rock in his other hand. "Keep it down. This is a public park. You're disturbing the peace. And beating up children? I take it you're one of those types that gets bullied at school so they have to find someone smaller to bully to make themselves feel more adequate…"

He glared. "Oh, if it isn't the younger Uchiha sibling… What happened? Did your _Mommy_ forget to set your place at the dinner table so you threw a tantrum and ran away from home?"

His taunt was met with another rock, one that hit him in the eye this time. He doubled backward, swearing a blue streak. Sasuke walked over, flipping out a lighter. He grabbed the older boy by his collar, looking him the eye. "I'd hate to see a burn on that pale skin of yours…" He ignited the flame, and held it up to Kankurou's face. "Tell your piece of shit brother if he doesn't show up to my fight at lunch tomorrow, I'll just meet him back at his house after school and fight him there."

He turned around, putting the lighter away and walking off down the street. Kankurou stared at the boy, his jaw slowly dropping. Sasuke Uchiha was a flippin'…pyro!? What the hell! He totally didn't act like the type at school, what with his standing school record and whatnot. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought the boy'd be hanging out with his sister. What the hell else was Sasuke hiding? Was he some kind of closet-Sex Pistols freak?

The three kids took the distraction to their advantage and kicked him in the back of the knees. He went careening forward, his legs giving out on him, and his face hit the wood shavings and dirt head-on again. Konohamaru spit on him, and his friends soon did the same–the snot-nosed one actually taking off that beanie of his and hacking up a loogie into his hair.

The three stepped away, the girl giggling. "That was so much fun! I've been wanting to beat up on the Cat in the Hat ever since he started walking by the park!"

––––––––––––––––––

Temari was sitting at the table, staring across it at her brother, who was munching on a granola bar. She sighed, leaning over and putting her hand over his. "Gaara…" He recoiled, a sick look making its way to his face, and she sighed, drawing her hand back. "Gaara…you know me and Kankurou just worry about you, you know… We just…we want to know what happened during school to make you so upset…"

He stared at her for a long time, and she looked back at the table, feeling a knot worm its way into her stomach. "Gaara, you know you can tell us. We'd never do anything to hurt you. And Dad only took you to that therapist because he felt it was necessary. But…I know it must hurt ever since your friend's grandmother moved away because of the…well, the…er…" She looked back at him, hoping to see a reaction, because she was unwilling to have to bring that back up again.

He just stared at her with a placid look on his face, dusting the crumbs off his fingers.

Her patience was starting to wear thin, and she grabbed his wrist, hard. "Gaara. Tell me what happened. I'm sick of this silent act. Dad spoils you _too _much, and now you feel you have every right to be babied. Look, Gaara, you can't just ignore your problems and hope they'll go away! So you tell me what the hell is wrong _right now_."

Kankurou walked in, taking a spot at the table. "I had a run-in with Sasuke Uchiha." Gaara's face turned to him, his breathing speeding up at the sight of his brother's black eye and scratched up face. He looked back at Temari, but his sister was looking to their brother. Kankurou's eyes narrowed. "Apparently him and Gaara have a fight scheduled at lunch tomorrow."

Temari's jaw dropped, and she squeezed the youngest's wrist, turning to him, anger etched into her features. "You got into a fight with Sasuke Uchiha!? No wonder you refused to say anything! What are you thinking, Gaara!? You were always so quiet, but now you're going to go fight _Sasuke_!? What did you say to him!?"

His head started to pound, and he ripped his hand away from Temari. He gave a low grunt and stormed up to his room. "I have a head-ache."

His older siblings watched him go before they turned to each other. Temari sighed, deciding she could only break up the fight when it started…or somehow convince Sasuke not to fight her little brother. She glanced at Kankurou, suddenly noticing how much of a mess he was. "What the hell happened to you? Did Sasuke do it to you?"

Kankurou's cheeks tinged pink and he nodded his head slowly. "W-Well yeah."

Temari smirked. "It was those _kids_ who hang around the park, wasn't it? You got beat up by a bunch of _kids_, Kankurou. That's even sadder than pathetic…"

Kankurou puffed his chest out. "Hey! Sasuke caught me off guard! He pulled out a lighter and threatened to burn me with it!"

Her eyebrows rose. "Sasuke's a badass? _That_ I didn't expect. I can see what Sakura sees in him… I always thought he was a bit of a stuck-up brat, only worse than Gaara." She took off the hat, spotting the wad of snot in his hair. She stifled a laugh. "It seems they gave you a loogie, Kankurou."

He reached back, running his hand through his auburn hair. He felt it and immediately gave a look of disgust. "Oh man! They totally did! I'm going to kill those kids! This means war, damn it! Konohamaru and his little posse are going down!"

She chuckled, standing up and picking up Gaara's trash to throw it away. "Waging war on a bunch of kids? I'd _love_ to see how this plays out."

There was a long, _long_ pause, until Kankurou propped his head in his hands, looking at his sister. His face was solemn, contemplating, but most of all…relieved. "You'll never guess who I ran into on the way back home…"

Temari looked at him, smiling, knowing what he was playing at. "There's _no_ way I'm going to guess who. Just tell me who it is, Kankurou."

He just raised his eyebrows, staring intensely in her eyes. "Starts school on Thursday."

Temari put a hand to her lips, her eyes widening. "Wait…you don't mean…"

He nodded his head. "The very same." They both gave a collective sigh of relief.

–––––––––––––––––––

Gaara stared at his ceiling, his eyes barely closed. His head was pounding so hard, he could barely keep himself from screaming at the top of his lungs. His siblings would worry if they knew how often his head-aches occurred. It wasn't like they would know–they happened at night, usually, in time with the waxing and waning of the moon. It was always twice as bad near full moons, and according to his calendar, there was one tomorrow.

So Sasuke had challenged him to a fight, eh? He hadn't started it, he _knew_ that, but if there was one thing he wouldn't do, it was back down. As much as he wanted to deny it and run off, he _had_ to finish it. After all, Kankurou looked a _mess_. Had Sasuke really done that to his brother? He wanted to make him pay, to make him see that he was messing with the wrong person.

He moaned again as another wave of pain shot over his head, and he rolled over, burying himself into his pillow.

He wasn't sure he could do it. The last time he'd gotten into a fight, he nearly killed that kid… He didn't want to hurt people, but they just kept pushing and pushing and _pushing_! Couldn't they see how much he was suffering!? The more they pushed, the more it pushed him to retaliate, and it broke him every single time…

He put his hands over his eyes and bit his lip, drawing blood. He really wished Matsuri still lived next door.


	4. The Swarm of Flies

_Oooh. Mystery's building, isn't it? Who's the mystery person Kankurou met on the way home? Why the hell is Shikamaru being so nice to Hinata, and who exactly is the hottie he bagged late, late at night? Why exactly did Shino break off his friendship with Kiba, and will they ever be friends again? (Shino is totally the Grudge-Master 3000, so I doubt it.)  
_

_Oh, and I'm sorry if it's way too much like the actual series. At least Naruto's not the one to break up the fight. D:_

_I worked on a chapter title for this one for so long, and eventually I just picked one. Myabe it's oddly fitting, considering Shino is sort of my foil to Dosu in this fic. Then again, maybe not. Though, Dosu handles things much more violently than Shino does, at any rate. _

_But first! Before all of these questions aren't answered and the eminent fight breaks out, an instance that shows just how much of a foil he is! (It's after school the same day Kankurou got bullied by children. Just so you know. The rest of the chapter is the next day.) _

* * *

**A Quiet Mind  
**_The Swarm of Flies_

He took a deep breath, knocking on the door. It'd taken him at least three hours of psyching himself up, and now he finally felt he had the stones to do what he was about to do. There was a long, long wait before a soft figure padded down the steps, from what he could see in the frosted window.

The door opened, revealing a middle school-aged girl with long, black hair staring up at him. She appraised him, looking over how he was dressed, before she took a step back, calling back into the house. "Dad! There's a hoodlum at the door!"

He went red, swallowing all hesitance in him. "Ah, a-actually, I'm here for your sister…"

"Dad! I think this guy wants a ransom or something! Should we call the police?"

"W-wait…" He stuttered, biting his lip and trying his best not to throttle the brat. She was ruining _everything_! A man appeared in the doorway, looking him over. After a long while, he snorted.

"Just shut the door on him, Hanabi. A criminal this bad isn't worth our time."

And just like that, the door was slammed. Shino stared at the door for a long, long time before he felt compelled to leave. He walked down the steps, shaking his head as he stared at the ground. Geez. Did he _really_ look like a hoodlum? Did he _really_ look like he was going to kidnap her? If he was going to _kidnap_ her, he'd be _much_ smarter about it, sneaking into her window in the middle of the night and carrying her away while she was half asleep.

He sighed, walking down the sidewalk and out of that neighborhood. The faster he got out of this ritzy place, the better. The last thing he wanted was to be picked up by the cops because people questioned his motives.

A car pulled up beside him, driving in time with his step. "Hey, you! We need to ask you a few questions."

He turned his head to see a cop car driving up beside him, and he sighed, walking over to it. "What is it, officer? Surely it's obvious I wouldn't hurt a fly…"

–––––––––––––––––

There was really nothing different about the next morning. His siblings all had the same sort of argument. Kankurou was being extra cranky since he'd been up running lines all night. Temari was cranky because she was up all night stewing over how to stop the fight…and Gaara was just like always–silent and uncaring.

He went to school, as usual. The only odd thing about it was the fact that Shino had come to school in _regular_ clothes. The same sort of clothes he could see Kiba wearing, or Naruto even. His glasses were gone, as was his trench coat, and he had done his best to make his hair as less frizzy as possible.

But that was hardly any concern of Gaara's.

He was taking a leak after the first period of the day, in the bathroom he preferred since barely anyone came in there, when the door slammed open. He finished up, zipping his fly and turning around. His eyes widened ever so slightly.

Dosu was standing there, staring hard at him. Gaara's breathing hitched, and he took a step back, as close to the urinals as he could.

"You're not going to fight with Sasuke."

"I…I am."

"No. You're going to let _me_ fight him. I'm the one that said that with the intention of starting something, so _you're_ going to stay out of the way while I fight him. You're not going to lunch today."

Gaara narrowed his eyes, his head starting to hurt. "M-My sister would be upset if she found out you were doing this…"

Dosu just smiled. "Doing what? Getting you out of a fight?"

"No." The pounding in his head increased tenfold, and he found himself wincing. "Keeping me from going to lunch where I could eat."

Dosu chuckled. "I don't give a damn about you or your sister."

Gaara's voice lowered, and soon he found something talking. He didn't know what it was, but it was…odd. He didn't feel like himself anymore. It was like something else had taken hold of him, rotted whatever was in him to keep himself from attacking the older boy and left him hollow. "Then why do you flirt with her?"

Dosu simply smirked. "To make Sakura jealous."

The sudden change in demeanor happened in an instant. Gaara flew at him, tackling him to the ground, slamming him against the door. "Then why the hell did you sleep with her, you asshole!?"

He slammed his fist into Dosu's face, causing a spurt of blood to go flying from his nose. The older boy's eyes widened, and he realized he'd completely underestimated him. His voice became more panicked when the prospect that Gaara wouldn't stop creeped into his head. "Wh-What!? I didn't sleep with your sister!"

The redhead slammed his fist into his face, standing up and stomping his foot over the boy's throat. "You did! I heard you! I don't sleep! I heard _every_ moan from your fucking mouth! You slept with my sister, you piece of shit! And then you don't even _like_ her! Fuck you!"

Blood erupted up from Dosu's mouth, and he wheezed, turning over and grabbing at his throat, like he could hardly breathe. He went to his knees, crawling toward one of the stalls. "I didn't…" _Wheeze_. "I never slept with Temari…" He wheezed again. "She doesn't even like anyone at our table…" He gasped for air, fighting his way to his feet. "It's just harmless flirting. She knows…" He collapsed to his knees again as Gaara kicked his shin. He coughed, tears making their way to his eyes, pleading for Gaara not to do any more damage. "She knows I don't like her, for fuck's sake!"

Gaara's voice just lowered further. "Well you just fucked up big time by getting me involved with your hatred of Sasuke. _I'm_ the one he challenged, and _I'm_ the one that's going to fight him…"

Dosu looked up at him, his face a mess, his eyes wide. "G-Gaara… P-Plea–"

The redhead grabbed his face, slamming his head into the floor. There was a loud crack that came from the collision and a pool of blood started to form around the older boy's hairless head; Gaara kicked him a little, eyes dark. "You'll stay out of my way if you know what's good for you."

He grabbed his bag and opened the door, shuffling his way back into the hallway. The stall at the very end opened, and Kiba poked his head out. "Holy _shit_!" he ran toward the boy on the ground, hands trembling. He lowered his face to the body, seeing Dosu's eyes moving groggily. He put a hand to the boy's neck, feeling a weak pulse. He stood, dashing out of the boy's room.

"Nurse Kabuto!!"

––––––––––––––––

Lunch came, and Gaara made sure he was in the very center of the cafeteria, the farthest away from any of the teachers. His sister took a spot next him, and he was surprised to see Kankurou joining her today, on his other side. Sakura and Zaku showed up as usual, faces grim–that meant Temari had told them _everything_.

Zaku looked at his food, his voice unsteady. "D-Dosu didn't show up for class."

Sakura just gave him a look, pursing her lips together, trying to lighten his spirits. "He skipped."

The older boy shook his head, looking back at her. "He didn't. He _wouldn't_. All he could talk when Sasuke arrived about was how he wanted to make sure he got to fight with Sasuke one day. He wouldn't skip. He _wouldn't_. Not if he knew Gaara was going to fight with Sasuke instead of him."

Both of them turned their eyes to Gaara, and there was some strange tension emanating around him. Sakura's voice was shaky, worried for her friend. "G-Gaara…did…did you see Dosu today?"

Gaara just looked at her, face cold, voice low. "He's probably where I left him…"

Zaku stood up, his eyes wild. "What the fuck did you do to him!?"

His siblings grabbed his arms, pulling him to his feet, away from Temari's angry companion. Kankurou whispered over the youngest's head. "T-Temari, we can't just _ignore_ this…"

Temari grit her teeth. "We're going to have to. He's right back to how he used to be. What we have to do right now is get him out of here before Sasuke shows up." She started for the back door. "Come on, Gaara. We're eating off-campus today."

Gaara ripped his hands away, taking a step from them. "No. I'm fighting him. He beat Kankurou up. He started this fight, so I'm going to finish it."

Kankurou started to sweat, reaching back for him. "It wasn't _Sasuke_ who did that to me, Gaara. It was a bunch of brats who live down the street, alright? You don't have to fight anybody!"

"Oh, he _does_. He insulted me."

They both turned to see Sasuke standing right behind them, staring. Kankurou groaned, grabbing Gaara by his shoulders and pulling him towards his chest. "Gaara wouldn't insult anyone! He's as quiet as a mouse!"

Sasuke glared. "But he did. And now he has to pay for it."

Everyone around them started to look, waiting for a fight to break out. The tension was thick, and soon a circle formed. Sasuke stuck his hand out, holding that lighter in his hands. "Let your brother go, and I promise I'll make it quick."

Temari stepped in front of the redhead. "No way in hell, Sasuke! No one needs to fight, alright!? If you want to fight him, you'll have to take him from us!"

There was a shove that sent her to her knees, and she whirled around, surprised to see Gaara had elbowed Kankurou in the nuts and pushed her down. He took a step over her, his fists clenching. There was a collective gasp from the spectators, and Temari crawled over to the auburn-headed buffoon. "Kankurou! Get the hell up! This is no time to be crying!"

Her brother whimpered. "But…but he hit me in the nuts!"

She pulled him up, ready to grab for the youngest, but it was already too late. There was a loud shout and Gaara had tackled the Uchiha boy to the ground, desperately trying to grab for his throat.

Sasuke kneed him in the chest, shoving the boy off of him. He jumped to his feet and kicked the boy, again and again and again, but it wasn't satisfying enough.

"Sasuke!"

The Uchiha froze, his eyes turning to the source of the noise. She was fighting her way through the crowd, stomping on some asshole's foot to get through. "Sasuke, just ignore it!"

He turned to her, his face falling. "But he said I'd never be anything like Itachi, Sakura! You wouldn't understand!"

She ran over, grabbing his arm. "It doesn't matter! So what if your brother is great?? There's way more things you're better at than him! I don't care if your grades aren't as good as his or you're not a star athlete like him!"

His cheeks went red, his face changed entirely–more soft, more relieved. "Y-you think so… W-Well…then I guess I don't have t–" His legs were pulled out from underneath him, and soon Gaara was back on top of him, slamming his fist into the pretty boy's face. Sakura screamed, and most of the guys watching were cheering, wanting to see Sasuke's good looks ruined.

Temari ran over, grabbing her brother by his arms. "Gaara! He was about to concede! That means you've _won_!!" Kankurou stumbled over, grabbing Gaara's hands, pulling them away from Sasuke.

"What would Matsuri say if she saw you like this!?"

The second those words left his brother's mouth, Gaara went limp. He looked up at them, the pounding in his head gone, the hollow feeling becoming just an echo of the screams around him. He stared up at his siblings, his lip trembling. "…I…I'm sorry."

Temari wrapped her arms around him, putting a hand in his hair. "Oh, geez. Dad's going to be pissed when he hears about this. But you just let us handle that, alright?"

Sakura stormed over, slapping Temari in the face. "I don't want to see your nutjob brother sitting with us ever again, Temari! Either he goes or we go!"

Temari gave her a cold look. "Then _we'll _go." A teacher pushed past all the students, grabbing for Gaara. His sister just shot the teacher a look and stepped past him, wandering off towards the principal's office. Kankurou followed close behind. Soon the teacher was following as well.

–––––––––––––––––––

Tsunade looked up from her desk at the three kids in front of her. She nodded her head to her assistant. "Shizune, close the door behind you."

"Yes, Miss Tsunade." She shut the door behind her as she left, and Tsunade crossed her fingers together, propping her chin on them.

"…Your father's going to be _very_ disappointed."

Temari nodded, crossing her leg over the other and leaning back in her chair, a calm hand on her little brother's. He was sitting in the center of the two older siblings, both of their hands over his. His head was down, and he was staring at his shoes, feeling guiltier than ever.

Tsunade gave them a wry smile, her face turning into a grimace as she shuffled a few papers around on her desk. "They found one of your friends in the bathroom, Temari. He was bleeding profusely and was barely conscious. We had to send him to the hospital."

"What does that have to do with Gaara's fight?"

"Kiba was in there the entire time. He said Gaara was the one that nearly killed him."

She leaned over in her seat, her attitude taking hold. "Did he also tell you how we gave that brat the finger at school the other day and Gaara made him mad? Or did you overlook that because you wanted someone to blame?"

Tsunade crossed her arms over her chest and stood, stepping over toward the boy in the center. "Is this true, Gaara? Did you send Dosu to the hospital…or is that just a coincidence? I'm sure that's what it is. Dosu just got beat up by a random kid and Kiba just _happened_ to lie about it…"

Gaara shook his head, and Tsunade smiled at Temari, nodding her head in the youngest's direction. "There you have it. Gaara admits to that little crime…" She took a spot on her desk, leaning her rear against it. "This is his first instance of mischief, but it was extremely severe. I know how hard you two have had with Gaara in the past when he was a kid, so I'm going to call your father up here personally and have a talk with him. Your brother's going to have a week of detention and will be forced to go see the counselor every day after lunch to discuss what set him off."

Temari spoke up. "We already know everything there is about his problems, Miss Tsunade. We've already had a shrink look at him. What makes you think a _school counselor_ is going to do much better…?"

Tsunade nodded her head. "You may very well be right about that, Temari. But still. He's going to see the counselor every day after lunch."

It was Kankurou who spoke next. "Wh-What about his classes?"

She laughed, putting a hand to her cheek. "My, my, what was I saying before? I didn't mean detention. I meant **in-school suspension**. Now get out of my office before I'm forced to punish you two for not stopping it earlier."

The two oldest children gasped, ready to chew her out, but Gaara stood, leaving the room. They followed him, realizing any arguing would not only be futile but would also only further their brother's punishment. Still, never being one to go down without a fight, Temari tossed her head back in the door. "You may want to talk to Sasuke about him bringing a lighter to school."

Tsunade just smiled. "I already overlook that with _your_ friends, Miss Temari. If I got onto him, I'd have to get onto you, too."

She sat back at her desk, pushing the button for the secretary intercom. "Shizune, send in Sasuke Uchiha, please."

The boy immediately stepped into the door, wiping some blood off his nose and sitting down in the middle chair. She looked him over, smiling pleasantly. "The last time I had an Uchiha in my office, it was with the police and about your brother's friend. Bodies don't just turn up in rivers after the most intense party week of the year without there being some sort of stupidity involved."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "So? What does Itachi's stupid mistake have to do with me?"

She smiled. "As great as your brother is, it saddens me to see you taking a turn onto the same path as him. If you keep this up, you'll be seeing a lot of me. Popularity is over-rated. The kids who just came out of my office know that. Why do you feel you need to live up to your brother's expectations, Sasuke? It's well known your parents are proud of him, that the coach of the varsity football team respects him and his teammates respect him…but there's always a darker side to that, isn't there?"

"Why are you bringing this up to me?"

Tsunade stood, glancing out her window, her tone bored at best. "Because so far you're doing a better job of _not_ making the same screw-ups he made. Partying, drinking, driving while intoxicated. Your brother is very popular, Sasuke…but that also means he has many enemies. Some even in the very circle he's been accepted into with open arms." She turned back to him. "Oh, and…I was wondering about a rumor that traveled to the faculty…"

His teeth clenched. "What. Rumor."

"Is it true you were checking out Neji Hyuuga in the boy's locker room after practice?"

He stood, storming toward the door. "He _wishes_!"

She smiled, watching him go. She figured he wouldn't need any punishment. Not after he'd gotten his ass kicked. After a long, long while, after he'd slammed the door behind him and she was sure he was out of the front office, she pushed the button for the secretary intercom. "Shizune, before that jackass Jiraiya leaves campus today, kindly tell him he owes me twenty dollars."

"Alright… Should we start another rumor and see how fast it spreads, Miss Tsunade?"

Tsunade smiled, crossing her hands together. "Yes… Tell some of the teachers that you heard some of the students say Neji Hyuuga was gay while you're in front of someone like…Ino Yamanaka, the freshman and cheerleader. When it's gotten to be a hot topic in school, try and convince Jiraiya you think it's completely plausible. Say something like you saw Neji making out with that Rock Lee from the soccer team or something. That way I can bet him _fifty_ dollars this time."

Shizune sighed over the intercom. "And to think I looked up to your maturity…"


	5. The Art of Running Away

_Okay. I had to drag myself out of writing a different story into this one. To be honest, I had all of the first four chapters of the last one typed up, but this one wound up being the hardest. I mean, there's so many loose ends! How am I going to keep it from being all jumbled up and incoherent? I think my attempt is satisfactory. Maybe not as good as someone as Rowling, the Queen of multiple story-threads, but satisfactory._

_The stuff I take from my life are fairly obvious in this story, even to someone who doesn't know me. After all, who _hasn't_ been read __The Runaway Bunny__ when they were children? It was always my absolute favorite book when I was little, because the pictures were so incredibly simple and yet breathtaking all at once. Even now, whenever I remember back to that book, I remember being curled up in my bed, my mother curled up beside me, her steady heartbeat beating against my ear, the smell of that synthetic insulin thick in my nostrils–she's diabetic, and the smell of insulin always reminds me of her–, and the sound of her soft voice. It always gives me an incredibly calm feeling, and I figure it's fitting after such an intense scene. The story is absolutely sweet, and it seems relevant to Gaara's habit of avoiding the problem right in front of him._

_There's a lot in this chapter. Sorry if it blows over anyone's head. Especially all of the Shakespeare._

_Oh, and have fun with the drama teacher/director of the school play. I wanted to give him a name, but I didn't know who to make him, so I finally decided it'd be funnier if he was coughing all the time while giving stage directions, people getting all out of whack because they're too busy wondering why he sounds like he's dying, the entire thing falling into chaos while he freaks out about it, complaining about how his cough's going to only get worse with all the stress. _

_Hence, Hayate Gekkou (or reverse if you prefer Japanese names the way they're ordered in Japan.)._

* * *

**A Quiet Mind**  
_The Art of Running Away  
_

Temari and Gaara sat in the auditorium, ready to cheer their brother on for his big audition. She turned her head to the youngest, lacing her fingers with his. "It's going to be okay, Gaara. Dad doesn't get home until seven. He won't have to know about it until then… I'll make sure he goes easy on you. I won't leave until he sees things my way."

Gaara just gave her a long, long look before he turned back to their brother running lines in the corner. After a short time, a girl came and sat down next to them, her face barely tolerable of the sight of his sister.

"Temari. It's nice to see you here to support your brother. I half-expected you to not care about anything…"

Temari turned, her face slowly becoming more agitated, more angry. "Hana. It's nice to see your family isn't here to cheer _you_ on. Where's that dog-obsessed twat of a brother of yours? Maybe if you were even more of a bitch than you normally are he'd show up."

Hana gave her a simpering smile. "It's going to be fun to watch your brother make a complete fool of himself on stage."

Temari's eyebrow twitched, her pupils turned to watch Hana out of the corner of her eyes. "…You…_bitch_. You made him believe he could do it just so you could laugh at his face when he failed, didn't you? You're the lowest of the low, Hana."

Hana smiled, patting Temari on the shoulder. "Don't worry. If he weren't so geeky, I'd totally ask him out and break his heart into pieces. This way he learns not to mess with my little brother without all of the heartache involved." She smiled, standing and turning back toward the director, who was starting to spazz out at how unorganized the entire thing was turning out to be.

Temari leaned over toward Gaara. "You better watch out for people like her, Gaara. She's bad news. It's a pity that idiot of a brother of ours is easy." She squeezed his hand. "But don't worry. I believe Kankurou's going to do great. After all, he's always watching that really witty show and laughing at parts that completely go over my head. He's going to make that bitch see just how hard it takes to get to us." She trailed off, her eyes narrow. "Bitch messes with _my _brother, I'm going to mess with hers _again_."

Gaara turned to stare at his sister, saw the determined line of her lips and the venomous vein of spite running through those dark eyes of hers. His eyes narrowed and he looked away, even more confused than before. Hana was _exactly_ like Temari in almost every way. If he wasn't supposed to trust Hana, how did he know he was supposed to trust his own sister? He didn't feel like he'd ever get a handle on who not to trust and who to accept with open arms. This world was crazy. Why couldn't he just shut himself off and be done with it? Why did people feel it was necessary to keep pushing and pushing and pushing! It was starting to make his head buzz and ache, and he closed his eyes, face turning to the ceiling, hoping for some sort of relief to this madness.

And that's when the director started to talk again. He cleared his throat, suppressing a cough and going to one of the seats near the stage. "Alright! First, I'd like to see those auditioning for the part of Puck. We all know everyone wants to play Puck the most, seeing as how the same instance happened four years ago. Now. Let's have the first group come up and run their lines."

It went like that, on and on and on, passing by Puck and onto Oberon and Titania, Bottom and the rest of the "troupe", finally onto Lysander, whom Kankurou was trying out for, and Hermia.

The brunette stepped onto the stage, and a few lines were said, Theseus then Egeus. Both boys trying out walked off the stage a little ways, leaving both Kankurou and some girl he recognized from his Speech class there. She stared at him for a moment, motioning with her hands that it was his line.

He froze, turning his face to the few people in the audience and all of the other students auditioning. He caught sight of Hana in the audience, who looked like she was a sour mood. He rubbed at his hat, as the director said something to him that he couldn't hear. The script dropped from his hand.

The girl beside him just rolled her eyes and shoved her script into his hands, and he started to read–

"I am, my lord, as well derived as he,  
As well–"

"Wrong part, Kankurou! You are supposed to turn to Hermia and ask her what's wrong!"

Kankurou's head turned to the director, his face warming. "D-Does it have to be at _that _part?"

"This is a comedy, of course, but it is also a _romantic_ comedy! We have to see if the actor can play a convincible Lysander, hence we must see if they can convince the audience they are truly in love with Hermia!" He put a hand to his mouth and suppressed another cough, throwing his hand in the air. "Hermia, show our Lysander where he is supposed to be."

The girl glared at him, jabbing the spot in the script in his hands. "Don't mess this up for me, _Kankurou_. I _really_ want this part." She muttered.

He nodded, reading over the script two times real quick before he took a step back, clearing his throat. He held his hand out to her, picturing Hana in her place. After all, he had to be convincing–

"How now, my love! why is your cheek so pale?!  
How chance the roses there do fade so fast?"

When he passed a hand over her cheek, the girl in front of him immediately went misty-eyed, bringing a hand to her eyes, looking as if she desperately wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't fall. His jaw just about dropped at how completely believable she was.

"Belike for want of rain, which I could well  
Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes…"

They continued their lines, and soon Kankurou realized the director hadn't stopped them when he had all the others. Mid-sentence, he turned to the audience, to the _director_, his voice calling out. "W-Weren't we supposed to stop earlier?"

The director shook his head, a bright smile on his face. "Oh, no, Kankurou! You two were doing such a wonderful job I wanted to finish watching you two interact!" He clapped his hands together, when suddenly Hana approached him. The brunette couldn't help but feel that she looked incredibly angry at him–maybe she was jealous?

"Mr. Gekkou, I really think he's multi-faceted. Perhaps even good enough to play all of the characters equally well." She spit the words out next. "He's extremely funny, so he could probably play Puck fairly well. Maybe you should see how well he does as Oberon… Such a sappy part as _Lysander _is too ridiculous for him."

Kankurou's eyes widened, his face went beet red. "W-Wait. Oberon as in…Ti-Titania's _husband_?"

The director took her opinion into account, glancing back up at Kankurou again. The girl beside him looked as if she was about to leap off the stage and get into a slap fight with the Senior, and the director hid a smile behind his hand, suppressing a cough at the same time. "Actually…I _would_ like to see how he'd look against Hana. Although, it would probably work better if we found someone taller than Hana for Oberon, but let's just see how that part works out for him…"

There were a few protests in the audience, and he held his hand up. "Anyone who is done with their auditions are free to leave. Kankurou's never auditioned before and he seems to have some talent. All of you kids get out of here and let me do my job."

There were a few more protests–one savage, "He's just a fucking _techie_!" and a more polite, "Why is he getting special treatment??"–, but one look from the director sent them grumbling out of the auditorium. The girl beside Kankurou crossed her arms over her chest, glaring daggers at Hana. "Oh, _please_. He'd make a _far_ better Lysander, Hana! You've been talking about him ever since yesterday! You just want him for yourself!"

Kankurou looked between the two, starting to feel his cheeks grow warm. Why were they getting so jealous over him? The director looked at her. "Mikoshi, perhaps you should get off the stage and help Kankurou out. You did a wonderful job as Hermia, and I doubt I'm going to cast anyone else but you."

Her eyes started to shine. "Y-You mean it?? I got the part??"

When the director nodded his head, she stepped off the stage. His eyes peered at the two girls glaring at each other, and a smile made its way to his face. Hana was much too tall to _not_ play the part of Helena. The only thing getting in her way was he had a feeling she could not get into that character easily. Though, if Mikoshi wound up being Hermia, it might be nice to see them against each other, see how they acted. But enough about that! He had to worry about Kankurou's blossoming talent.

"Hana. You shall play the part of Titania, as you wanted, and Kankurou will be Oberon. I say we have the scene where Oberon wakes her up after releasing her from the spell. That seems like it might show more of Kankurou's skills at playing a character like Oberon." When he nodded his head, Hana stepped onto the stage and went to a bench, propping herself against it so she could pretend to be asleep.

All the while, there was a grin adorning her face. Kankurou stared at her for a moment, various reasons behind why she'd suggest something like that running through his head. He turned to Temari, who was not looking happy one bit. She had the same look in her eyes as she had when she'd spoken about the boys who had been picking on Gaara on the playground. That meant only one thing–Hana wasn't doing this to be nice. Hana was doing this to mess him up. And since he hadn't made a fool of himself before, she'd have to personally make sure of that.

He stared at the director, turning to that page. "Um…do I _have_ to?"

The director smiled, suppressing a cough and nodding his head. "Of course, Kankurou. I want to see how well you do."

He turned his face to the few students who were still here, waiting for friends who were still audtioning and even a few who seemed interested in what he would do–he saw a few of his techie friends looking at him with shining eyes, pleasantly surprised at his hidden talent for acting.

He cleared his throat as one of the students who was going to stand in for Puck for this particular scene jumped onto the stage, strutting over toward him, already in character. The brunette read over the script, started to walk toward "Puck". He cleared his throat, trying to sound as refined as possible.

"Welcome, good Robin." His face was blank; he had no idea how his character was supposed to feel throughout this entire scene. What was even going on? What was he _saying_? He held his hand out to the kid, sliding it over toward where Hana was against the bench.

"See'st thou this sweet sight?  
Her dotage now I do begin to pity:  
For, meeting her of late behind the wood,  
Seeking sweet favours from this hateful fool,  
I did upbraid her and fall out with her;  
For she his hairy temples then had rounded  
With a coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers;  
And that same dew, which sometime on the buds  
Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls,  
Stood now within the pretty flowerets' eyes  
Like tears that did their own disgrace bewail.  
When I had at my pleasure taunted her  
And she in mild terms begg'd my patience,  
I then did ask of her her changeling child;  
Which straight she gave me, and her fairy sent  
To bear him to my bower in fairy land.  
And now I have the boy, I will undo  
This hateful imperfection of her eyes:"

He held out his hand to "Puck" motioning toward Hana again, at the Bottom that was supposed to be resting in her lap had this been the actual play, his voice growing a bit more firm in his resolution to nail this part and prove Hana wrong.

"And, gentle Puck, take this transformed scalp  
From off the head of this Athenian swain;  
That, he awaking when the other do,  
May all to Athens back again repair  
And think no more of this night's accidents  
But as the fierce vexation of a dream."

He waved his hand in the air slowly, as if following the rising and setting of the sun. Then, he turned to Hana, going to her side and kneeling beside her.

"But first I will release the fairy queen."

He bent down, about to start what would be the spell that would free her from her infatuation with Bottom.

"Be as thou wast wont–"

Before he could even finish his sentence, she reached up with one hand and brought it to the back of his head, crushing his face onto hers, capturing his lips in a kiss. He recoiled instantly, shooting upward and going beet red. From the audience, he heard quite a few people gasp, and he heard the director chuckle at the Senior's forwardness. He put a hand to his face, trying to recover. Finally, he took a deep breath and threw the hat off his head, running his hand through his auburn hair in an attempt to maintain character, to not back down from this challenge. He was going to nail this audition and get a part in the play, damn it. Even _if _the only reason why he'd wanted to at first was for a girl who had been lying to him about his wittiness the entire time. He turned to the audience, a grin plastered on his face.

"M-Methinks my fair Queen has had too many a dream of the long-eared Bottom…" He put a hand to the side of his mouth, as if whispering to the audience. His eyebrows rose. "A bitch in the sheets as well as sheep's clothing, t'would seem…" He nearly jumped back over to her, dropping into a crouch and grinning ear to ear as the smile on her face turned to a scowl and she opened her eyes to glare at him.

"Aha!" He stuck his finger in the air. "A remedy to such an abhorrent dream!" He leaned down, blowing a raspberry into her ear. The second he did, she jumped up, screeching, and the entire audience burst out laughing at the sight.

The director started to clap, suppressing a cough mid-laugh; Hana went to the edge of the stage, absolutely furious. "How…How can you just _clap_ at that?! He was _completely_ out of character!!"

The director's eyes started to shine. "But it was such _brilliant_ improv., Hana! And the way he made it witty at the same time _and_ have that wonderful rhythm to his rhyme scheme! It was as if he'd–"

"He's supposed to be playing the part of Oberon…not…not…" She threw her hands in the air. "**PUCK!!**"

The second those words left her mouth, she realized she'd just made things worse. The director's eyes glazed over for a brief moment before he looked back at Kankurou, something clicking in them. His mouth opened slowly before he went to the stage, motioning for Kankurou to come closer to him. When the brunette did, and bent down to listen to him, the director smiled.

"Kankurou, I know you wanted to try for the part of Lysander, but I really think you have something with Puck. The fact that you could come up with such witty improv. on the spot like that and manage to grin all the while in your embarrassment… You're far more in tune with his character than I have seen with nearly _all_ of the students who come in here wanting to play his part. And you've _never_ done this before, Kankurou. I usually have to cast young actors who've done professional work for school plays that involve Shakespeare, but you–an _amateur_–have done such a phenomenal job, and I just _know_ you will on stage."

Kankurou shot up straight, his voice rising, his eyes widening. "Wh-What are you saying?? Are you saying you want me to play the part of Puck!?"

The director smiled up at him, holding out his clip board and coughing softly. "You need to audition first to make it fair. How about we run some scenes with you playing the part of Puck… How do you like the sound of that?"

Kankurou's breathing became shallower, and he had to fight to keep himself from feeling dizzy. "Y-You're saying you want me to play the part of Puck, _the_ most popular character in the entire play? I mean…I…I always really liked Puck's lines…but I…I never really thought about auditioning for him…" He rubbed his hair sheepishly, glancing over at Temari. She was standing–actually _standing_–and looking at him like there was nothing more than she wanted to see him do than to audition for Puck, and he realized it was what she'd wanted for him all along. Like she'd _known_ he'd find so much enjoyment in acting rather than set design and working the lights.

A smile slowly creeped over his face as Hana stormed from the auditorium, indignant and humiliated. He turned to the director. "…Alright. I'll do it."

––––––––––––––––

Temari slammed the door to the car, going over to the brunette and grabbing him in a hug again. "You were _amazing_, Kankurou! I knew you could do better _in_ the scenes rather than behind them!! Oh, you _totally_ inherited Mom's penchant for acting!! Dad's going to be so _proud_ of you!"

They walked in the house, Gaara trailing behind and smiling a little. Kankurou was brimming with pride, strutting his way into the doorway slowly as Gaara hurried in before him to sneak up the steps before their father got home.

To their surprise, their father was already at the dining room table near the entrance, home a little bit earlier than normal. All three of their faces fell, and Kankurou shifted uncomfortably in time with Temari. When the two siblings stepped in front of the youngest protectively, their father finally turned his eyes to them… He was furious.

"Temari, Kankurou…I want you both to sit down at the table right here." He pointed to the table at two spots toward the end, and both of the older siblings went clambering to the designated spots as if they'd be beaten if they didn't do it within three seconds. Temari lowered her head, and Kankurou scratched at his face idly before he looked down at the table.

"What have I told you twenty million times, Kankurou?"

The middle child ripped the hat off his head, stuffing it between his legs. He then went red, trying to apologize. "S-Sorry, D-D-Da–"

"Gaara. Come here."

Gaara ambled over to his father, staring him straight in the eyes. They looked each other up and down for a moment, an almost challenging appraisal of the other, before he pointed to the chair at the opposite end of the table from him. Gaara went and took it, bowing his head as well and biting his lip.

"Temari, Kankurou. Both of you are grounded. You _know_ you're supposed to keep your brother in check. But apparently you two were having too much fun waiting to see what would happen if he got a little…out of control."

Temari's eyebrow twitched, her anger rising. _That_ wasn't what happened at all. They _tried_ to stop him as best as they could. Her cheeks reddened with rage, and she looked up at him, eyes narrowing. "Oh, that is _bull shit_!!"

Her father's expression never faltered, never changed. In fact, his eyes started to dance with amusement. "What was that?"

She paled. "I…I mean… It…It will never happen again. We'll keep him out of trouble!"

He propped his face in his hands, looking them over and tapping his finger on the tabletop. He grimaced, the idea that his daughter was telling the truth crossing his mind. "If…and I do mean _if _there was even the _slightest_ chance that my theory was as you say 'bullshit'–and I _doubt_ there is–, why on _earth_ would you look so happy walking in that door knowing what you'd done?"

Kankurou's smile returned, and he looked up, bubbling over with happiness. "We had auditions for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for the school play today! Despite the fact that I'm a little scratched up and everything, they thought my acting was phenomenal! The director even says he's nearly one-hundred-percent positive he's going to cast me as Puck!! Isn't that great, Dad?? I'm practically going to be the lead role in the school play! Do you understand?? Shakespeare is one of the most difficult things to act out, and usually only Seniors who've had _years_ in acting wind up getting cast, but it was my first time acting…ever!…and I did better than all of them!!"

His father looked him over, his eyes narrowing. "You're going to be in a school play…" When his eldest son nodded his head enthusiastically, he sneered, glancing down at his fingers, lacing them together aggravatedly. "Why can't you be more serious like your brother, Kankurou? Acting? _Puck_?? If your mother were alive, she'd be _ashamed_."

Her brother's face fell, and Temari stood, slamming her fists into the table. "She would have been proud and you _know_ it, Dad! She _loved_ going to the theatre!! You told me yourself she even _acted_!!"

His face hardened. "You will _not_ talk back to me, Temari. Especially not after I have kept my mouth shut on how insolent you've become. I'd expect this out of your younger brothers, but not _you_. You're a Senior, for crying out loud! I am _not_ keeping my mouth shut anymore. What are you planning to do with your life? You graduate at the end of the semester and you have _nothing_!" He stood, staring her down. "Absolutely _nothing_ to show for it. What college are you going to get into?? Have you even given a single thought to what you want to do with your life!? As far as I'm concerned, you're just as useless as Kankurou!"

She clenched her eyes shut, resisting the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. "I _have_ given it a thought, but what the _fuck _am I supposed to do when you go and act like this, you bastard?? Your son gets a part in the school play, showing talent that most kids older than him don't even have and all you can say is that he's not as _serious as Gaara_!?"

Her voice rose. "Fuck Gaara! And fuck _you_, Dad!! You have another son, for fuck's sake! And you have a fucking daughter, too! It's not just _Gaara_! Sure you give us everything, but you don't even try to _get to know us_! What you want for us is not what _we_ want!! And what did you do when Gaara started having nightmares when he was little!? You tossed him into the nearest child's psychiatry clinic in the area! And what happened when he started having _night terrors_ two years ago!? You fucking shoved him into the hands of a _shrink_ who only gives a shit about the money you paid her! You never even sat down and tried to find out what was wrong with him yourself!!" She opened her eyes and flipped him the bird, storming up to her room.

He shouted up after her. "That's it, Temari!! Your principal wanted Gaara to start seeing the school counselor, and you know what?? It looks like you get to go see the school counselor, too! I'll call up the school and make sure you go in once a week, young lady!! This attitude of yours has _got_ to change!!"

He turned his eyes to Kankurou, eyes glowering, his voice lowering. "Is there anything you'd like to add to your sister's comments?"

Kankurou looked up at him, his bottom lip trembling. "N-No…b-b-but…but I have a request…"

"And that would be?"

His son's voice was shaking, like he was about to burst into tears at any second. "You can…You can ground me for a year if you want to…and…and you can just smash up the car I know you're going to get me for my birthday if you want…but…but can I at least be in the school play? Just…Just give me that… P-Pl-Please, Dad?"

"Have you gotten that part in the school play yet?"

"Well…n-no…not yet…but…"

"Then why are you making any negotiations with me this early on?"

"I…"

His father gave him a hard look, grimacing. "If you get that damn part in the play, you can bet your ass you'll be able to take part in it. I'll be damned if I see you start something you aren't going to finish."

Kankurou looked at him, wiping at his eyes a little, happiness welling up in his chest. "R-Really? If…If I get the part, I can _really_ be in the play!?"

"Yes, but don't think I'm showing up for it. I'm not going to watch you choose something that will only cause you ruin."

Kankurou bit his lip, sniffling a little and nodding. "I…I can live with that…" He stood, hat in one hand, mussing up Gaara's hair with the other as he went back up to his room.

That just left Gaara alone with his father.

The youngest shuddered a breath, biting his lip bitterly. So…they'd take care of everything, would they? Some help they were… He slowly turned his eyes to his father, checking to see if he'd get yelled at or even lectured.

His father was just looking up at the ceiling and glaring. For what felt like hours he stared up, as if trying to see his children up there in their rooms, fuming and crying and perhaps even laughing with happiness. Then, he turned his eyes to the youngest. His eyes relaxed somewhat, but not nearly enough for the redhead to feel comfortable.

"I assume Principal Tsunade told you what you did…" When Gaara nodded, he went to the sink, peering out the window idly and tugging at the curtain. "You sent a boy to the hospital… A Junior, in fact. They say the kid was a real skinhead…" His lips curled into a smile. "I'd say I was angry at you, but I'm actually quite proud. My _son_…sending a boy two years older to the hospital. Wait until the guys at the office hear about this… You're even stronger than I was at your age!"

Gaara felt the blood drain from his face and his eyes slowly turned to his fingers, which were gripping his wrist so tightly he was starting to tear the skin. He tried his hardest to suppress a sob disguised as a cough, but it failed. His hand gripped tighter, the nails going deeper and deeper. He had to shut his eyes to keep himself from breaking down.

His father turned back to him, his eyes narrowing at how upset his son looked. "Gaara…is something wrong?"

Gaara managed to spit out a hissed, "Nothing," before he took a few shuddered breaths and removed his hand from his wrist. A few seconds later, his breathing had returned to normal and he was opening his eyes to look at his father.

"Oh, you stop crying right now, Gaara!"

Gaara's eyes widened and he put a hand to his cheeks, finding fresh tears. He bit his lip, scooting out of his chair and putting his hands over his face, his voice becoming muffled. "S-Sorry… I don't know what came over me…D…" He fought over that word, eventually giving up–he could never say it out loud.

His father grimaced, pointing to the stairs. "I'm scheduling an appointment with that therapist next Tuesday. You're not ready to end the therapy yet. And your in-school suspension starts tomorrow, as do your trips to the school counselor. I'm fine with the skinhead, but Fugaku is an important asset to our company, and I'd like for a fight between you and his son to never happen again. If Sasuke Uchiha says anything that makes you angry, just ignore it. I don't want you starting fights or losing control in school. Are we _clear_ on this?"

The redhead wiped at the tears, biting at his lip, and sniffled a little. There his went again–assuming _he'd_ been the one to start anything. He didn't start it, Sasuke did. He grinned–more like grimaced–and bore it. "Yes…D…D–" He gave up again, shuffling back up the stairs and choosing to ignore the problem, ignore the flurry of words he wanted so desperately to come spilling from his mouth.

As he shuffled up the steps, he could hear his father calling up to him. "I'm only doing this out of concern for your well-being, Gaara. You know I love you very much. It's about time you started to realize that."

Gaara ignored that, too, slamming the door to his room shut when he reached the end of the hall. He jumped onto his bed and grabbed Tenderheart, hugging the beloved bear tightly against his chest as a wave of pain shot through his head. It started to pound, and soon he was feeling it in his fingertips, in his toes. A steady, pulsing beat. Another wave of pain shot through his head and he burst into tears, unable to bear the pain any longer.

He drifted off into unconsciousness, falling into a world of sand and blood and screams amidst the steady, rhythmic breathing of something enormous waiting to burst forth and devour everyone and everything around him.

––––––––––––––––––––

Temari woke up in the middle of the night, hearing sounds coming from the bathroom. She wiped at her eyes groggily, sitting up and running a hand through the dreads in her hair. She groaned and fell back into her pillow, figuring it was just Gaara again. He was always up, always doing _something_ to keep his mind alert to keep himself from sleeping.

Apparently, reading hadn't been enough.

She turned her eyes to the door, where she noticed a sliver of light flickering on and off. She had to do a double-take to realize she was seeing it correctly. She shot up immediately, watching it flicker on and off–it was the light in the bathroom right next to Kankurou's room.

"Oh, _bitch_ move, Gaara." She stood abruptly, muttering under her breath. "We went over this a million times… You can do whatever you want to keep yourself entertained during the night, but the _second_ you do something that keeps _us_ up, you're getting locked in the garage. Just because you're upset because of this fight with Dad, you don't have to go throwing a temper tan…trum…"

She trailed off when she saw him in the bathroom, flicking the light switch on and off over and over and over again, all the while muttering, "I'm _sorry_, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm _sorry_…"

She bit her lip, turning her head a little to see if his eyes were closed. They were half-open, half-closed, and she took a deep breath. Shit. She just hoped he was only _falling_ asleep. She cautiously reached a hand over toward him, preparing for another attack if it occurred.

"Gaara…if you keep doing that, the light will–"

Just as she managed to touch the top of his head, the light bulb shorted out and sparked, emitting a loud "pop!". She swore as they were enveloped in darkness and an arm hit her across the chest. "Gaara!!"

He started to scream, and she threw herself into him, his arms thrashing wildly, trying to escape whatever unknown creature was pursuing him in his dream. They went tumbling into the bathtub, which worked out great for her in keeping him from thrashing about, but she knew both of them would have countless bruises come sunrise.

He continued to scream, and she reached out her hand, groping around in the dark for his face. She found his mouth and he bit down, earning a swear from her. "Fuck! _Gaara_!! Everything's okay!! It was just a dream, Gaara!! Snap out of it!!" She grabbed his cheeks, hard, desperately trying to see through the dark to see if his eyes were even open or if he was still trapped in a dream of some sort.

"Shit! Temari! What the hell happened!?" The light switch flickered, the socket buzzing uselessly in response to the dead bulb. "The bulb's dead!"

She screeched. "No _shit_, Sherlock! Gaara's having another night terror! Now stop standing there acting stupid and _do_ something!" She turned back to her youngest brother and wrapped herself around him, pressing his head against her collar bone and running her hand through his hair, all the while trying to ignore the incessant attempt to thrash about on his part.

"Calm down, Gaara!!" She barked, her head turning back for a brief moment. "Kankurou, get a flashlight!!"

Something snapped in the darkness, illuminating the youngest's face. "Right ahead of you!!"

The second the light hit his face the redhead started to calm down, his eyes wide, his breathing heavy, his screams settling into whimpers, sweat glistening in all of the light bathing his face. He panted, gripping onto his sister tighter. It took him a long time to find his voice. He finally choked back tears, spitting out, "I'm sorry…" bitterly.

She sighed, stumbling up out of the tub and helping him up at the same time. "It's alright, Gaara. There's no need to worry. It's my fault for not doing what I promised earlier… I got angry and ran out on you. It was wrong, and I'm sorry…"

"N-No…I…I don't care about that… It just…it felt so _real_ this time…"

She coaxed him out of the bathroom, leading him back into his bedroom. Kankurou was following, looking like he'd just gotten into a slap-fight with a pillow and wound up getting his hair sticking up at odd angles in the process. They reached the youngest's room, and Kankurou flipped the flashlight off, turning the overhead light on.

Temari tucked him into the bed, handing him Tenderheart, whom he promptly squeezed tightly. She sighed, stroking his hair. "What felt so real, Gaara…? What do you _dream_ about, anyway?" He shook his head, and she squeezed his shoulder. "Gaara, please tell me… I can't help you if you don't give me anything to go on…"

Gaara squeezed the Care Bear tighter. "…My head hurts…"

The blonde turned to their brother, exchanging futile looks between each other, shrugging their shoulders and shaking their heads. She finally stood, sighing. "Gaara, let me go get a book for you to read…"

She left, and Kankurou went over, sitting on the bed. After a brief moment of tense silence, he turned his head to his little brother. "As hard as it is to believe, Temari says you were actually a _lot_ worse as a baby…" He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "Of course, she _also_ says I had a tail until I turned two and they had to get it removed, so I doubt she's telling the truth about you either…"

Gaara stared at him, his face completely blank, and Kankurou frowned a little. "You know… Temari means well…but it's much simpler than she makes all of this out to be. Sometimes I think she believes all it's going to take to fix your problems is just a caring hand and lots of loving words…" He shrugged his shoulders again. "To be honest, none of this is going to change unless _you_ make the decision to open up and let someone help you. Until then, all of us–even _Dad_–are going to be unable to help you."

He looked up at the light bulb in the light at the top of his ceiling. He leaned back a little, pointing at it and looking back at Gaara. "You know what the difference between that working bulb and the broken bulb in the bathroom are?" When Gaara shook his head, Kankurou lowered his hand, crossing it over his chest. "A single little wire that lets electricity travel over it. Without that wire, there's no connection and the electricity can't travel across it. It breaks; no light."

Gaara squeezed Tenderheart tighter, understanding where his brother was going with this. "I'm the wire without a connection…"

Kankurou shook his head, his hands going to his knees as he leaned over a little. "No, Gaara. The bulb has no _connection_ without the _wire_. Do you know what the wire is, Gaara? The wire running through it is **communication**."

"…I'm the _bulb_ without the _wire_."

Kankurou nodded. "Yes. There's no wire in you, Gaara. There's no _communication_ from you. And without it, we'll be stuck fumbling around in the dark, trying to figure out what's wrong on our own." He leaned over, punching Gaara in the shoulder affectionately before he stood. "We might find some objects by groping around in the dark using our hands, but without any help from a working bulb, we'll never be able to see the whole picture." Gaara stared at him blankly for a moment, lost in thought, and Kankurou stepped out of the room.

He passed by Temari leaning against the wall in the hallway, back to his room. He groaned, cricking his neck. "I tried my best… I can only hope anything I said went through to him…"

Temari smirked, shoving her brother back into his room before she went to tend to the other. "That was _deep_, Kankurou. Forget _acting_. Maybe you should try _writing_ plays rather than performing…" When he just laughed, she walked into Gaara's room, holding out a book.

He looked at her for a brief moment before he turned over, reluctant. She sighed, climbing up to his bed and taking a spot next to him, holding out the book. "I brought you The Runaway Bunny…" When he stayed silent, she rolled over onto her back and held it up, flipping open to the first page. "Mom used to read this to me when I was little, you know…" She looked over, put-off that Gaara still hadn't turned around to look at her.

"…Gaara. Please turn around. I picked this book out especially for you…"

He finally turned, eyes bitter. "What does it matter what Mom read to you? Why should I _care_ about anything you have to read to me _just_ because Mom read it to you when you were little? It's as if you think just mentioning Mom will instantly make me look over and listen to you. What do you _know_?"

Temari smiled, handing him the other half of the book and pointing to the picture. "I know Mom read it to Kankurou even when she was pregnant with you, despite the fact that he couldn't comprehend it, and she wanted to read it to you when you were older…" She pointing to the picture more firmly, and he turned to it to see a picture of two white rabbits running in a field of grass. She started to speak, her voice soft, calming.

"Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away. So he said to his mother, 'I am running away.'  
'If you run away,' said his mother, 'I will run after you, for you are my little bunny.'"

She turned the page Gaara was holding, and he ignored the picture this time. Instead, he looked over at his sister's face, watched how soft her eyes were and how she was smiling, as if she exactly remembered when Mom used to read it with her. He went silent for the rest of the time, until she finished the book.

Finally, she looked over at him and closed the book, nodding her head a little. He pouted a little, looking to his hands, which were holding onto Tenderheart tightly. "…What was Mom like…?"

Temari sighed, reaching a hand up and ruffling her little brother's hair. "I was really young…so there's very little I remember of Mom… I remember she had a really pretty voice…" She looked over at Gaara, nodding her head in his direction. "You have her eyes…or, at least, your eyes are aqua like hers. Hers were much darker, like mine. I remember when I was little, looking up through those dirty blonde locks of hair, reaching for her face. I remember she was always holding headphones up to her belly when she was pregnant with you…but every time Dad came a foot near her, she would yell at him." She shrugged. "As far as anything meaningful, I can barely remember anything…" Her face darkened for a moment before she looked away, suddenly happy again. She smiled, glancing up at the ceiling and yawning. "She always smelled like citrus… I remember that very clearly… Maybe…it was her shampoo or something, but she always…smelled like citrus fruits… I still get nostalgic every time I smell them…"

Gaara looked away for a long moment, his voice quieting so it was barely even a whisper. "Is that why……he…never lets us buy oranges when we get groceries…?" His sister was silent, and he finally looked over to see her fast asleep.

After a few moments of looking at her, he grabbed her hand and snuggled underneath the covers. He looked up at the ceiling, staying like that until daybreak–Tenderheart in one hand, his sister's hand in the other.


	6. The Sailor and Her Entourage

_Oi. Yet another chapter for this fic. And as you can all see, I changed the name. The song it's named after is actually by Blue October, and just so happens to be playing at the moment I write this. Ha. Funny how life works like that...  
_

_What should I say about this chapter… Oh! It introduces three new characters, which I hope are satisfactory. Tayuya, Jiroubou, and Kin. Maybe even Kidoumaru, if I ever get to him… I'm pretty sure I will, since he's a total trouble-making bitchscuit in this story, hence, he should really be in in-school suspension with them. (Gaara and anyone else–Tayuya and Jiroubou.)_

_I was asking my friend, Beth, how I was going to go about Tayuya and Jiroubou, because I was at a loss. I figured Tayuya would be a hippie chick because of that hat of hers, but instead she wound up sort of turning into one of my other friends, Ed. Ed's always wearing a beanie wherever she goes, and she looks like a female version of Jay–Jay and Silent Bob, duh. I figured, Jay's always cursing, Tayuya's always cursing, and it works great because of that weird cap she wears in the show! The only difference is that Ed doesn't curse like a sailor, nor is she the "model daughter"._

_As for Jiroubou, he's based on a kid who rode the bus with me for two years. He was on the wrestling team and was the nicest guy you could ever talk to. It was like it was literally impossible for him to insult anyone or get angry. Anyway, he was always wearing Hawaiian shirts and shirts underneath that had those phrases on them–"I've got the body of a god…too bad it's Buddha."–those kinds. And he was also a big guy. That's sort of what inspired me for Jiroubou, minus the fact that this guy didn't shave his head and he wore glasses._

_My idea was "I wrestle __bears__…" on his shirt, because it doesn't fit his attitude, but Beth said something that made me burst out laughing and I HAD to include it. So, thank Beth for that little joke in here._

_And I'm pretty sure I moved the upstairs bathroom's location in the last one. Um…that's where it's staying. _

_Oh yes. And as you can see by the chapter title, Tayuya makes a prime appearance in this one. So. Heads up. You're going to be reading a lot of swears._

_I hate this chapter. The fight scene leaves much to be desired. The only thing that remedies the chapter is Tayuya, Jiroubou, and Kidoumaru being their trouble-making selves. That and when they capture Sasuke. I found that particularly fun to write. They'd totally do it just to piss him off and freak him out, too._

* * *

**A Quiet Mind**  
_The Sailor and Her Entourage_

Temari shifted in her bed, opening her eyes. She opened her eyes right up to see Gaara staring at her, a blank expression on his face. He barely moved, even after she shot up and jumped out of her younger brother's bed, so she assumed he must've been asleep, and she must've fallen asleep in his bed that night. She tried to walk away, until something gripped her hand tighter. She looked down to see his hand holding hers, and she smiled, going back over and sitting on the edge of the bed, just holding it. She'd been wondering why her hand was so warm compared to the other.

"Gaara…?"

He finally muttered, "…I'm not sleeping…", before he let go of her hand, standing and shuffling out of his room to the bathroom.

She watched him go, her other hand moving to the one he'd been clasping and squeezing it. She looked down at it, flexing it a little, squeezing the other hand over it once again. Her cheeks went pink, and she sighed. "Why can't he be that sweet everyday?"

The siblings ate in silence, staring at the table they'd had that big argument at the previous night. Finally, Temari looked up at Kankurou, who was sitting across the table from her. "When do the results come back? The ones that say who got which part?"

Kankurou held up a finger. "One more day after this. It should be Thursday, according to how impressed he was with Mikoshi's acting of Hermia, my acting of Puck, and Hana's acting of Titania. That just leaves a few choice big parts and other minor ones. The rest will be stand-ins that have either only one line or used for parts where groups are required."

Temari smiled, glancing over at Gaara. "That's good. Thursday seems to be the best day of the week…" She looked back at Kankurou, her eyes shifting to Gaara ever so slightly. As if he could read her mind, Kankurou nodded his head, tossing it towards their little brother. She smiled warmly, flipping her hands out like a book, then connecting them together.

Kankurou shrugged his shoulders, his face scrunching up, tossing his head back in Gaara's direction again.

"Yes. Temari slept in my bed last night. She read me a bed-time story. I held her hand the rest of the night." Gaara stood angrily, witnessing the entire thing, knowing exactly what his siblings were talking about without saying a thing. He shuffled back up the steps to the second story, where he'd attempt to make his hair look manageable and get his backpack ready for school.

Kankurou leaned over the table the second Gaara was gone, his voice low, voicing the motion he'd made just seconds ago. "If it ended so well last night, why is he acting like this?"

Temari sighed, shrugging her shoulders. After a while, she looked down at her cereal, feeling tears make their way to her eyes. "I really don't know. I try to look at it optimistically and smile and act like everything's fine, but it's not. I don't know _why_ he's acting just as he always does, but he is." She put a hand to her face, choking back a sob. "I think it's because he asked me about Mom last night before I fell asleep…"

Kankurou hissed. "You know Dad hates it when we talk about Mom! Especially around Gaara!"

She shook her head, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "Maybe he's upset I was trying to take the place of Mom? I read him the book The Runaway Bunny and everything, and I'm sure I was clear with my message. Maybe he's insulted by us trying to guilt him into opening up more?" She sighed, looking up at the ceiling, her breath shuddering out another dissipating sob. Her tears dried up, and Kankurou's face crumpled.

"We aren't guilting him into opening up, Temari. And you don't try to take the place of Mom for him, you know. You just try to give him the affection she was never able to give him. There's a difference."

Temari stood, her temper rising. "I had to stop myself from telling Gaara what Mom said right before she died!"

Kankurou winced, biting his lip a little. "You weren't lying when you told me she wanted him to kill dad when he got older, were you?"

"No!" Her voice escalated. "Why would I lie about something like _that_!? Especially not since she was _so_ serious about it! She even asked Dad to leave the hospital room to go fill out some papers!" She felt tears working their way back to his eyes. "I know Dad's a complete douche bag, but the way Gaara keeps taking one step forward and two steps back, it really makes me think that one of those days he's going to…to…"

Kankurou stood, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Gaara's _not_ that bad, Temari. He's just going through a lot of _shit_. We can't do anything about that. Maybe when he starts seeing the shrink–"

"That shrink _did _shit, Kankurou! All she did was find out Gaara was having night terrors and made shit up! It was obvious by the shit she kept saying about him! He was unable to _function_?? He was bordering on a_ multiple personality disorder_!? Jesus, Kankurou! Don't tell me you actually _believed_ that shit she kept saying to us after every fucking session!!"

There was a sound from the stairs, and both siblings immediately froze to look at a shoe landing at the ground below the last step. Gaara came down the steps, a small smile on his face. Temari walked over, her voice unsteady.

"G-Gaara… Are you ready to go to school now? Me and Kankurou just have to brush our teeth and we'll be–"

"Yes." He bent down, picking up his shoe and pulling it onto his foot. He had his backpack in hand, looking bulkier than usual. He smiled at her, his face finally showing a bit less anxiousness over going to school. "I'm ready to go. I have everything."

She chuckled, going over and putting her arms around him. "It's good to see you smiling again." Kankurou walked over, joining their hug eagerly.

–––––––––––––––––––

They arrived at school, glad to see a good parking spot close to the school. Before any of them could get out of the car, Temari turned to all of them. "I know we're grounded, but both of you just walk home from school today. I have Poetry Club and I'm not missing it."

Kankurou gave her a long look, a wry grin on his face. "Are you _sure_ you're not just saying Poetry Club when you're actually going to the _Chess_ Club and totally geeking it up with Mr. Sarutobi like that one freshman… What was his name again? _Shikamaru_?"

She gave her brother a disgusted look, turning red. "N-No! I have _Poetry_ Club, and that's what I'm really going to go to!! Listen, just walk home after school, alright?? That's all you need to do!"

Gaara spoke up from the back seat. "What if he comes home early again?"

Temari sighed, tossing her head at him. "I'll just deal with it, Gaara. Sheesh. Stop getting so upset. And start calling him Dad, will you? Sure he doesn't try with us and he is a total douche bag, but he's the only one you're going to get."

––––––––––––––––––––

Gaara stepped into the classroom designated for those suspended in school. It was facing the carpool lane at the front of the school, a window overlooking the street. Kids were jumping out of cars, walking past the window and talking with friends. He looked out the window, slightly amused to see Kiba standing there, that dog bouncing around his legs, refusing to let him go.

"Name?"

He turned slowly to see the teacher sitting there, his head a mess of scars and screws. There were a couple of scars cutting along his face, and Gaara's throat went dry. This man was positively terrifying. Like, twice as terrifying as Baki.

"Name?" He repeated, his voice slightly more angry than before.

He stuttered. "G-Gaara…"

The man nodded his head, going through a few pages. "Ah. Yes. You got into that fight with Sasuke Uchiha." He nodded his head for a moment before he stood abruptly, voice shouting. "If you keep up this act, you'll wind up in a ditch somewhere! Violence only leads to even more violence, and then what will you have?? A drug dealer going after your little brother and a whole gang ordeal that leaves you with a metal plate in your head and cuts along your face!!"

Gaara took a step back, eyes widening. He bit his lip, turning abruptly and walking to the back of the classroom to take a seat there. Usually he preferred to sit in the front…but with a man like _him_ as the teacher?

He took his seat, and other students started filing into the classroom. All of them looked like real trouble-makers. He felt out of place in his simple white cotton tee and pants, a pair of nice loafers on his feet. He cleared his throat a little, eyes widening as a girl walked in.

Her hair was a light rust red, and she had a simple clip in her hair, pulling the bangs out of her eyes. She wore a button-down grey-blue shirt, a nice white skirt with pleats and everything. She was wearing knee socks, a pair of flats on her feet. He stared at her in shock, unable to believe his eyes. Was she visiting one of the guys in the class? Why did she look so clean-cut?

She walked over to the window, waving out of it shyly, fluttering her eyelashes, a bright smile on her face. Gaara's eyes went to the window, spying a car out there, with a woman waving out of it. The girl mouthed the words, "I love you, Mom!" and waited a moment, still waving sweetly.

The second the car drove off, she sighed in annoyance, ripping the clip out of her hair, letting her hair dangle in her face again. She turned to the teacher, grinning. "How's it going Ibiki?" She reached into her purse, pulling out a beanie and stuffing it on her head, hiding away her pretty hair.

The man just glared. "Just because you are usually here, it does _not_ mean we are on a first name basis. You are to call me Mr. Morino like everyone else."

She waved her hand at him, unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing. She threw it open, revealing a blank tank top and countless amounts of spiked jewelry hanging about her neck, underneath the collar of the overshirt. She reached into her purse, pulling out a fishnet arm warmer, placing it on her hand. She strode over to her chair, adorning herself with more and more spikes and sweatbands and fishnet and studs as she went, as if it would make up for the fact that she was forced to wear such preppy clothes at home. Finally, she slumped into a chair and swung her bag around, pulling out a pair of chunky thick boots from it. She shoved them on her feet, depositing the flats back into her bookbag–which, from where she was sitting diagonal and to the right from him, he could see was completely empty.

The knee-length socks made more sense now–the boots went up halfway to her calves. She leaned back, propping her legs onto the desk in front of her casually, looking up at the ceiling. "Sure is a nice day today, eh, boys?" She looked around the room at the numerous boys scattered around the room, all in the back. A few of them nodded, some of them winked, and one just gave her a cold glare and went back to sleep.

Her eyes turned to him, eyes brightening. "Oh wow. You sure do look out of place… What's your name, kid?"

He cleared his throat a little, emitting a feeble, "G-Gaara."

She whistled, pounding her fist on the desk in front of him, grinning. "Oooh, I've heard about you! You're the freshman that got into that fight with Sasuke!! Nice work, kid! Rumor says you're also the reason behind that fuck Dosu's disappearance." She twisted around in her chair, fixing herself so that she was leaning toward his desk–obviously, not many people were supposed to know about that. "Zaku told Kin and Kin told me, and now I have a feeling you're going to get into a bitch fight with my best friend."

He gulped, and she shrugged her shoulders, laughing. "But, I never liked that skinhead anyway. He was a fucking dumbass. Shouldn't have underestimated anyone, just as he shouldn't have fallen for Sakura, that bubblegum slut!"

Finally, Ibiki turned his eyes to her. Before he could berate her, a boy walked in, decked out as Spiderman. Ibiki's eye twitched and he stood.

Tayuya took one look at the boy walking in and burst out laughing. "Oh, Jesus, Kidoumaru! Nice one!!" The boy ran over, giving her a high five, and she threw her fist in the air. "I didn't think you'd actually do it, but you did! God! Wait 'til the lunchroom sees your fucking costume! It'll be even greater than Halloween last year! You should totally grab some silly string and spray it all over people!"

The teacher stormed over, grabbing the mask off of the boy's face. "Mr. Kidoumaru, I will not tolerate such disrespect in my room! You're in here for spitting spitwads at Neji, don't look like you're enjoying being here so much!"

Kidoumaru shrugged, and it was then that Gaara realized he was actually quite good-looking. He had a grin plastered on his face, a nice tan and dark hair he'd let grow out in the back, like some sort of mullet imitation. It was pulled back in a ponytail. He was also tall and well-built for a kid his age, despite the fact that his face was younger than his height suggested. "Chill, Morino. I was going to take the mask off as soon as Tayuya laughed her ass off…"

That wasn't good enough. "That's not good enough! What is the meaning of wearing a Halloween costume to school!? You can't just walk around like that! Go to the front office and change your clothes!"

Kidoumaru snorted. "Whatever, man." He popped his hands over Ibiki's head, drumming on it a little. "Bah, buh-buh bum! As you wish, Metalhead!"

He strode out of the room, Tayuya's laughter uncontrollable. The teacher rubbed his head slowly, glaring venomously at the mask in his hand. He absolutely _hated_ these kids. It was kids like these that made the world go to shit. He wept for the future generations. As Ibiki strode to his desk, a few more kids poured into the classroom. The room wasn't as crowded as he'd expect it to be; the occupied seats were sparse, scattered in various locations, and all in the back.

Tayuya wheezed, looking back at Gaara. "Isn't that guy just fucking _hilarious_??"

"Tayuya, please stop using that language."

All eyes turned to the rather large fellow walking into the room. Gaara's eyes widened. Yet _another_ person who looked as if he didn't belong there. His hair was bright orange-red, shaved a little, though it was growing back and sticking up in odd places. The majority of it had grown back in the front, and he gelled it to give it that "hit-the-wall" look to it. He wore a light pink Hawaiian shirt, a brown shirt underneath it that read, "I wrestle bears…" Below it was a picture of a man ready to grapple with a bear, his face hardened, his mouth opened in a scream. Gaara recognized him from the wrestling team.

The orange-headed wrestler was also very tall and very big. It was very apparent he was strong, too. He looked like he was at least in his late twenties, despite the fact that he was only a Junior. He walked in, taking the spot next to Tayuya, right in front of Gaara.

Tayuya grinned. "You wrestle _bears_? What an oddly badass shirt for you to be wearing, Jiroubou. Perhaps you're trying to impress someone?"

He removed the Hawaiian shirt to sit down, and to Gaara's utter surprise, the man on the front was pictured absolutely ecstatic on the back, hugging onto a stuffed bear. Above it was the phrase, "…TEDDY BEARS!" all nice and neat. He had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing, his cheeks going pink as he stuck a hand into his backpack, feeling for Tenderheart, whom he'd stowed away with him to school this time.

The teen named Jiroubou went slightly red, rubbing his head and smiling a little. "D-Don't be serious, Tayuya…"

She laughed. "You fucking liar!!"

Ibiki had finally had enough. He stood up. "Tayuya! You cut that language out right now! You want another day of this, huh??"

Tayuya flipped him the bird. "Maybe I do, you fucking hardass! After all, all you are is a ripped up, torn up, chrome-domed, metal-headed _screw ball_!"

Jiroubou gasped. "T-Tayuya! Language…"

The teacher shrieked. "For that, you're getting another day of this, Tayuya!!"

The bigger teen turned, his face pale. "Hey, fuck you, you piece of shit!"

"Jiroubou! One more day for you, too!!"

He steamed as he glared at them both behind his desk. To Gaara's surprise, Jiroubou actually seemed to calm down a little. He turned back to Tayuya, frowning. "See? This is why you shouldn't curse so much and talk back to teachers… You're only going to get punished longer…"

She looked at him curtly, biting her lip. "Yeah, well you have _no_ room to talk. You don't have to get another day of Ibiki's…shouting…just to talk to me, you know… You fat…sack of crap."

He didn't get mad, instead, he just smiled, looking back to the front of the room. The redhead behind them both went bright red, looking to his desk. He felt so out of place here. All of these people were just a bunch of trouble-makers. Sure they all seemed like they had their own group of friends and all, but…but…

That's when the door barged back open and Kidoumaru came striding back into the classroom, normal clothes covering him. He had the Spiderman costume balled up in his fist, and he slumped into the seat right beside Tayuya. He leaned over, snickering. "Apparently someone saw Neji making out with Rock Lee behind the building…"

Tayuya laughed. "Of course you'd believe anything making Neji look bad, you fucking moron… You hate his guts." Jiroubou's finger lifted, his mouth opening to scold her again. Kidoumaru spoke first.

"Hey, I _tried_ being his friend! I introduced him to Gumo, and what does the bastard do? He smashed her to pieces! I'm never forgiving that jerk-off!"

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "That's why you don't go introducing your fucking spider to people by placing her on their shoulder. Remember when you did that to me? I nearly pissed myself!"

"Yeah, well–" That's when he noticed Gaara. His eyes widened, and he nearly jumped out of his seat, leaning over the empty desk to Gaara's right. "Hey! You're Temari's little brother, aren't you!?"

The redhead glared. "How do you know my sister?"

He grinned. "I've talked to her a few times in the hall. Listen, the next time you see her, tell her I said hi, will you?"

Gaara shrugged his shoulders. "Fine."

"Oh." He snorted. "And tell her her breath smells." He burst out laughing. "She'll know what you mean. It's sort of an inside joke."

Gaara gave him a cold look, nodding his head. He didn't trust this guy. He was way too perky, way too sure of himself. He looked like a real douche bag, and he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

The foul-mouthed girl snickered. "Maybe you should go ahead and add _her_ to your conquest, Kidoumaru…"

The other looked at her, his expression blank for a moment before his eyes lit up, that grin returning. He wiggled his eyebrows at her, wiggling his fingers at her, toward her shoulder. "Hell yes! They don't call me Kidoumaru "Six Hands" for nothing, babe…"

She fanned herself, her voice going up into a moan. "Fuck me _there_, Kidoumaru! You know where I like it…"

She burst out laughing again, earning glares from everyone, Jiroubou in particular. He shook his head. "Jeez, Tayuya. When are you going to quit being so vulgar?" His cheeks were bright red the entire time, and after a while, he raised his hand.

Ibiki glared at them a little, pointing at the fat one. "What _is_ it?"

"I need to use the restroom."

"Go ahead. Just don't take thirty minutes again or we'll have to send someone down to check up on you…"

The big guy stood, stumbling out of the aisle toward the door, all the while his hands at his crotch. He managed, in his nervousness, to walk right into the doorframe, hitting his forehead. He doubled backward, but after he rubbed the spot he'd hit, he made sure to quickly cover his crotch again and dash out the door. This earned quite a few laughs in the room, and even a chuckle from Ibiki.

Tayuya giggled, twisting her hair a little, glancing sidelong at Kidoumaru. "He is _so_ fucking transparent. But he's way too slow, you know? I even told him freshman year and he _still_ thinks otherwise."

Kidoumaru waved his hand a little. "Well, I think all the weed we smoked in middle school finally took its toll on his brain cells. And with Jiroubou being the way he is, he probably didn't think anything of it. You two _have_ been best friends since childhood." He grinned at her, his eyelids lowering seductively. "That's why you have to give him something to go off of…" He leaned over, his hand reaching toward her hair and tugging on one of the locks poking out from under the beanie. "I know you've got quite a few tricks up your sleeve…"

She laughed in his face, swatting his hand away. "That was fun while it lasted, right? Too bad we ended it after our first time." She looked back at Gaara, a grin plastered on her face.

"Hey, you, Gaara. Speak up more. I want to hear how you kicked Dosu's ass!"

Gaara looked at her, his face turning red. He stared her up and down, glancing over at Kidoumaru, who was looking at him coolly. He looked between them, his throat growing dry. So…they'd…they'd… For some odd reason, it was even more uncomfortable than knowing about his sister's sex life. With his sister, he could at least overlook the touchy subject by finding something to focus on besides that topic–rage at it being someone not right for her, it being a boy he most likely _knew_.

"Hey! You gonna say something or what?"

When he didn't answer, she turned back to Kidoumaru, frigid. She changed the subject, choosing to ignore the insolence of the redhead. "Hey, remember way back when Sakon and Ukon were always hanging out with us?"

Kidoumaru's face twisted. "Er…yeah. I didn't ever like them much. They talked more to each other than they did us… And they were always together, never leaving the other's side… It's kind of weird… …I think I even saw them going into the same stall to go to the bathroom once… Oh, speaking of the kids we used to hang out with, remember Ki…mi…" His voice trailed off, and he scratched at his face. "Er…"

Tayuya gave him a reproachful look, pointing her finger at him threateningly. "Fucking moron. Keep your mouth shut about that. You know how Jiroubou gets." As if on cue, the bigger fella walked back in, taking his seat, blushing profusely.

An idiot in the back spoke up. "You guys talking about Kimimaro? Wasn't he that fucking emo pussy that killed himself last year?"

Jiroubou snapped, turning. "He didn't kill himself, you jack-off!! He was sick, alright!?"

There was a silence that formed between everyone, and soon, to Ibiki's relief, quiet enveloped them. It was like that until lunch.

When lunch rolled around and Ibiki said they needed to get to the lunch room, Tayuya stood, grabbing Jiroubou and Kidoumaru like she were grabbing a pair of suitors, dragging them up to the front of the classroom. She saluted to Ibiki teasingly, her eyes shifting to the redhead in the back.

She leaned over, pointing at him while she was whispering to them. They all drifted off to the side, letting everyone pass through. A few student aids that worked with Ibiki followed the kids out of the classroom, making sure they all stayed at the table designated for them in the lunch room. They had to clean up all the trash after lunch.

Gaara approached the door timidly, staring at the three watching him. He reached for the handle, and Tayuya grabbed his arm. "You're going to be our new plaything, Gaara." She cooed at him, dragging him out of the classroom. Jiroubou and Kidoumaru just exchanged smiles and followed after them.

––––––––––––––––––

They each got their lunches and sat down. Gaara wasn't very hungry; he wound up just sitting there, staring at the table. Tayuya was laughing, going on and on about some party last Saturday–apparently once they reached high school, they switched from weed to some of the stuff that was harder to come by–and her friends were sitting across the table from her. Gaara was sitting to her left, glad no one decided to sit in front of him.

The bell rang and kids started filing to the seats. Gaara spied a mass of black hair in a spiked emo-look, and paled. Tayuya, however, just grinned excitedly and stood up, ignoring the looks the aids were giving her.

"Sasuke!! Come here and let me tell you something!"

Sasuke looked at her, clearly thinking she had nothing worthwhile to say. But the prospect that she _did_ was too tempting, and he walked over. Immediately afterward, both of her friends grabbed him–Kidoumaru grabbing his waist and right arm, Jiroubou grabbing his waist and the left–, grinning playfully. He let out a half-shout, half-grunt, as Tayuya leaned over and cupped his chin in her hand.

She pursed her lips at him, so close their lips nearly touched. Her voice was a soft, seductive whisper. "We're going to capture you one of these days, Sasuke… We're going to capture you and rescue you from that _awful_ house you call home and that bastard Itachi…" There was music on her voice, a playful sing-song that one would normally reserve for babies and playground taunts.

"Tayuya! Jiroubou! Kidoumaru! Release him this instant!"

They all groaned, letting him go and returning to their meals, pouting, upset that their fun was interrupted. Sasuke stormed off, indignant.

Tayuya spoke up, glancing at him as he walked off. "If Sakon and Ukon were here we would've captured him for _sure_. They could've hid under the fucking table and grabbed a leg so those bitches couldn't understand why he wouldn't move for another two minutes." She winked at her two friends. "But we'll get him next time for _sure_… We just have to wait to get him when those fucking aids are around…" Jiroubou scolded her again, but she ignored it.

Kidoumaru rolled up the paper the straw he'd gotten was wrapped in, sticking the ball in his mouth and making sure it was nice and wet. Then, he placed it in the straw, spitting it out at the teacher who'd yelled at them when her back was turned. It stuck, and she didn't even realize. This set them into a fit of giggles, and Gaara turned his head away. What the hell was _wrong_ with these three?

That's when he saw Hinata sit down in the table two tables away, right in front of him. He could only look at her back, but she pulled out a book just like normal. He watched her for a long time before he noticed a girl walk up. She passed between the tables, eyes cold, finally making her way to him.

Her hair was incredibly long and dark, and her eyes were dark grey. She had her hair up, shaggy at the sides in a scenester cut, hair gently falling over one eye. She was wearing a shirt that had numerous amounts of notes on it, and Capri pants.

She stood in front of him, glaring at him. Tayuya looked over. "Oh! Kin! How's my flute doing back at the classroom? That bitch didn't touch it again, did she?"

The girl–Kin–just took a deep breath, slapping Gaara hard across the fist. Everyone turned to look at her now. She ignored the rusty-haired girl, instead managing to take every amount of hatred in her and pour it out all over the freshman. "Zaku tells me Dosu's in the hospital." She slapped him again, on the other cheek this time. "What gives you the right to lift a finger toward him!? He never did _shit_ to you! Your sister's one of his close friends! You think he'd just kick your ass without knowing there'd be consequences!? Hell, even Zaku wouldn't lay a finger on you, and he's even more of an asshole than Dosu! That stupid freshman Kiba keeps blabbing on and on about how you two were arguing over that retarded fight with Sasuke! He said he wanted to fight that dickface instead! Why the _fuck_ would you send him to the hospital!? You should have let him fight instead of you! You wouldn't have even gotten in trouble that way!!"

A teacher walked over, and she threw her hands away from the bitch, taking another step back. Gaara's face stung, and he slowly put his hands to his cheeks, anger rising up in him. His eyes narrowed. "He was flirting with her just so he could make Sakura jealous."

Her eyes widened, and she reached over, grabbing his hair and yanking as hard as she could. "What the hell did you say!? _That's _your excuse!? Temari didn't give a shit about Dosu either, you stupid shit! You send my best friend to the hospital for _that_!? She's not even _into_ Dosu! She's into–" Another teacher dashed over to tear her away from him, and Gaara fell backward, desperately trying to keep it together. His head started to pound, and he had to hold his head to suppress the urge to fight back.

The dark-haired girl screeched, getting dragged off to the office, and Tayuya whistled. "It's nice to see Kin so pissed off." She started to giggle again. "I think I enjoyed that more than the time that freshman Shikamaru put her in her place."

Jiroubou frowned. "I'll never understand you…"

Gaara panted, and the three looked over at him worriedly. That is, until Temari walked up, a bagged lunch in hand. She walked over, handing it to him. He looked up at her, lips falling into a pout. His head was pounding. She smiled back at him, leaning over and planting a kiss on the top of his head, right above his left eye.

"Gaara, I made you a lunch this morning while you were waiting for Kankurou and me to brush our teeth."

Gaara looked up at her. "Your breath smells." She gave him an odd look, cheeks turning bright red, and he pointed to Kidoumaru. "He said you'd understand."

She leered at Kidoumaru, walking over and shoving him lightly. She gave him the finger, pushing on his head again before she walked off. "Oh, what_ever_, Kidoumaru…" He just grinned at her, and she shook her head, hiding a smile. "Stupid Junior…"

Tayuya eyed the bagged lunch. "You must be lucky to have a sister who's that nice. I have an older sister in college. She's a fucking _bitch_." Jiroubou scolded her yet again, but this time she actually gave him a lewd gesture, sticking her fingers in a "V" up to her mouth and sticking her tongue between them. The poor guy went beet red.

Gaara just stared at the bagged lunch for a moment, not really hearing her. He opened it after a while, taking out the contents–his favorite foods: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a small chocolate pudding, a baggie of honey nut Cheerios to the side. He pulled out the juice pouch, popping the straw into the hole and drinking eagerly. Kidoumaru snorted at the sight.

"Geez, your sister's probably the nicest girl in stiletto heels I've ever seen."

The redhead ignored the comment and looked up back toward where Hinata was sitting, his good mood suddenly returning, along with his appetite. He nearly spit out his juice at the sight of Shino sitting directly in front of Hinata, quietly eating lunch. He stared at them, noticing that every once in a while Shino would open his mouth and close it, as if he wanted to say something but never got around to it. Finally, the boy rubbed the back of his head and looked over toward the bathroom. He took his leave, and Hinata glanced around nervously before standing up and leaving. She turned the corner, heading to the library immediately, her face bright red.

Shino returned two minutes later to find her not there; he frowned pitifully, slamming himself back into his seat and chewing on the straw in his soda, aggravated. His eyes looked up and his and Gaara's eyes met. They stayed like that for a while, Gaara finding the breaths caught in his throat. Shino had been fairly close with Dosu. He'd hate to think whatever sort of bonding they'd had on Monday would go right down the tubes. After all, Shino _was_ the type to hold grudges very easily.

Shino's eyes were free and clear, him giving up those sunglasses and trench coat in an attempt to look more appealing to the Hyuuga girl or something. There was no anger in them, only bitterness and disappointment. Gaara's face paled and he looked back to his food. After a short moment he glanced back at Shino, who was still staring at him.

He bit his lip, but Shino sighed, shrugging his shoulders. Finally, he put his head in his hands and stayed like that for quite some time.

Gaara went back to his food, a bit confused. Why didn't Shino have anything against him for sending Dosu to the hospital? He could see Temari over at her normal spot by the wall, eating her meal in silence. Sakura and Zaku were a few tables down, refusing to eat with her. Why wasn't Shino acting just like them?

After what felt like ten minutes, he looked up, surprised to see Hinata returning. But she wasn't alone. Shikamaru's arm was linked with hers, and she was blushing profusely, her face in her hands. He nudged her over toward where she'd been sitting before. She sat down, and it was quite humorous to see the look on Shino's face. His jaw dropped, and he looked up at Shikamaru. Shikamaru sat down beside Hinata.

A few seconds later, Naruto bounded over, taking the spot on the other side of her. His voice was loud–he could hear him all the way over here. "You want to be Hinata's friend, you gotta at least _try_ to talk to her! She's not just going to go over and talk to _you_, you know!" There was a smile playing on Shikamaru's face as he nodded his head, saying what was most likely an agreement. Chouji bumbled over, munching on a handful of chips.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Tayuya's cheeks went red and she cooed, standing up and tossing her hand at the gamer. "Ooooh, Chouji… You've got such cute cheeks… I want to just pinch them!!" Gaara glanced at her–she was a _chubby chaser_?

Chouji's cheeks went bright red and he rubbed his arm nervously, trying his hardest to scoot back in with his friends without many people turning and looking at him. She was _always_ flirting with him, and he'd gotten tired of it.

Gaara's eyes turned to Jiroubou, who was gradually getting more and more angry. Tayuya glanced over at Jiroubou, a smile playing on her lips, before she called back toward Chouji.

"I gave you my number a week ago! Why haven't you called me, cutie!?"

Finally, the bigger, older wrestler shot upward, storming over and reaching for the bag of chips in the boy's hands. "Who do you think you are!? You're just a freshman!!" He threw them onto the ground, stomping on them as hard as he could.

Chouji paled, stuttering. Before any of the teachers could go over and stop him, Kidoumaru clambered onto the table, grabbing Tayuya by the hair and ripping the hat off her head. There was a smile on his face, like he knew exactly what he was doing, but he was shouting. "You _bitch_!! How _dare_ you look at me like that!?"

Tayuya, not noticing the smile on his face, slugged him the face. "What the fuck, Kidoumaru!? Get the fuck off of me!!" He doubled backward before he tackled her again, and soon the two were rolling around on the ground, fighting. She, unlike Kidoumaru, was pissed off.

Instead of Jiroubou, the teachers went to break up this fight, which was considerably easier to break up, considering the size of the two in it.

Shikamaru glared, standing up to the Junior, his voice rising. He said something Gaara couldn't hear over the noise, and Jiroubou grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, throwing him over the table angrily. The genius went tumbling over the table, grunting in pain and attempting to sit up after he'd collided with the floor. He rubbed his head, spitting up some blood.

The reaction was instant.

Jiroubou, completely caught off guard by how strong Chouji was himself, went tumbling to the ground. Chouji's eyes were blazing, fists punching. "Don't you _dare_ hurt my friends, you jackass!!" The two started to wrestle, and Jiroubou thought he was doing good, so he stood up to kick the younger boy in the stomach. Chouji's legs shot up and he kicked the older boy in the chest.

He stumbled backward, and Chouji rushed him once more. The Junior was much more prepared this time, and he picked the freshman up, tossing him over onto the table. The gamer went colliding right into the space between Hinata and Shino, right on top of Shino's food.

The soda Shino'd had launched into the air, finally landing directly on top of Sasuke's plate. He shot up. "Who _threw_ that!?"

Immediately afterward a food fight broke out. Gaara ducked underneath a table, peering over to see Kidoumaru lying on the ground, his eye with a nice black ring around it, laughing his ass off. He narrowed his eyes. He _really_ didn't like that guy. He didn't like _any_ of these guys.

"Woah! Didn't think I'd find _you_ under here, Gaara!"

He turned his head to find Naruto right next to him, wiping some unknown substance off of his bright orange hoodie. He sniffed the stuff that had rubbed off on his finger, finally sticking it into his mouth and tasting it. His expression perked up. "Ooh! Strawberry Jell-o!" He held his hoodie out a little, inviting Gaara to try some for himself. "Wanna try some?"

Gaara bit his lip, feeling that sick feeling rise in his chest. Before he could get up and run away, someone else climbed down there underneath the table. It was Shikamaru, and he was busy wiping some mashed potatoes out of his hair. He sneered.

"Ah, shit. That bitch is troublesome. And she's always teasing Chouji. I'll bet she knows exactly what she's doing, too…"

Naruto shoved his hoodie in the genius's face. "Wanna try some?? It's Strawberry Jell-o!"

Shikamaru gave him a sick look, shoving him away. He caught sight of Gaara, his eyes widening. "You're the brother of Temari and…oh…" His snapped his fingers. "Kankurou! The older students." He held out his hands. "I'm Shikamaru. And I think your name's Gaara, right?" He nodded his head, pointing at Naruto, who was too busy eating the Jell-o off his shirt to listen. "He's a weird guy, but he's pretty nice. He really means it when he says he's going to be your friend." He nodded, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh. And tell Temari it was fun for me, too. She'll know what you mean."

Needless to say, Shikamaru found himself with a black eye, wondering what the hell he'd done to deserve it.


	7. The Sound of Silence

_Bah bah bah._

_Alright. Let's get this one started. It starts out with the whole fight thing from Hinata's point of view, and then it moves into a normal chapter with Gaara going to the counselor's office. _

_Ha ha ha. I really like how Butters (from South Park) takes a leak, and I got to thinking that there's probably much weirder ways. And then…I thought of Kiba. And his…doggishness. And that's how he came to be lifting his leg. Hope no one's offended. (I personally can't picture him pissing anyway else now. –snort-)_

_Poor Naruto. None of his friends are as fun-loving as he'd like…_

_By the way, there's a lot in this that goes back to my life. Um. Naruto is reading Buso Renkin, a manga my friend his place in this story was based off of really liked. He also liked that one Satan one that has practically the same art style as Naruto but was made by Kishimoto's twin brother…? Oh, and about his bright orange hoodie... My friend had a bright RED hoodie that he always wore, so I felt it would be fun. This one time, we witnessed an accident at an intersection involving three red cars. One SUV pulled out in front of a red truck at an intersection and got angry, pulling into reverse and smashing into a brand new red sports car. He wound up driving off in a flash and the other two cars chased after him. From that point on, we always joked about how he needed to watch out so he didn't get hit by a car. Because he wore that red hoodie all the time and we always ran across the street to get to Gamestop.  
_

_And Hinata's experience with Shino came from partially my and a girl friend of mine's experience. A kid at the college I go to walked up and sat next to me one day. He said hi, but I tensed up and didn't know how to talk to him, as I did with most people–it's a struggle to adjust to new places for me and my old habits get dragged out into the open–so I just went back to reading. He walked off and then I noticed he was always staring at me until he finally dropped out. (The day before he did he turned to face me across the room and stared at me for a good three minutes, so I figured he definitely liked me.) Of course, my girl friend was telling me the guy was most likely crushed and felt I'd rejected him when I went back to reading. She had had a similar experience when she'd gone out to a bar with her brothers, didn't realize she was being hit on and her brothers scolded her for practically crushing the guy who'd unintentionally gotten rejected. So yeah. I still have absolutely no luck when it comes to romance. I can totally relate to poor Shino in these chapters.  
_

* * *

**A Quiet Mind  
**_The Sound of Silence_

Hinata settled down, pushing the book in front of herself and forcing herself to read. In about twenty minutes she'd leave and spend whatever time was left before the bell rang with Shikamaru and Naruto and Chouji in the library. Sounds were buzzing around her head like a swarm of angry flies, and she was fairly certain that was the in-school suspension table two tables behind her, the sounds of a few of the Juniors shouting. A teacher shouted, and soon Sasuke was storming by her, face beet red, like he'd just been violated horribly.

Seconds passed, and a girl walked toward her, past her table. Shouts erupted at the suspension table, and a Junior was screaming her head off. Teachers soon remedied the problem, dragging her out of the lunch room. Hinata sighed shakily, hoping things would calm down afterward.

She managed to get four pages farther when there was a sound in front of her, the soft Styrofoam of the lunch trays in the cafeteria. There was a sound of a can hitting the table lightly, it rocked back and forth, like whoever had sat it there was clumsily sitting it there, embarrassed.

Her eyes peeked out from the top of her book, her cheeks went burning red. She'd seen him around everywhere, though usually he was in that trench coat and sunglasses–he'd even come over to her house before! She could see him out her window, getting stopped by a cop car. She stared at him for a moment, noting he wasn't wearing those sunglasses he normally did.

Her eyes turned back to the book, her head growing fuzzy; since when was she so dizzy around people?

He didn't say a single word to her, but she could hear him eating, occasionally taking a drink. People coming up and talking to her, she could deal with. But what was she supposed to think when a guy–one who'd even stopped by her _house_–just sat down in front of her, not saying a single word!? What did he want?? Why was he sitting there??

She turned the page of her book, despite the fact that she hadn't even finished the page. She stared at the words on the page, the letters swirling together into a massive blob of incoherency, and she found she was having a hard time bringing herself to read. She'd pick up a word or two, but those were soon lost and she found she had to turn the page again in an attempt to keep her mind focused.

He'd been one of the boys that made her cry in middle school. He never said anything then, either, but his friend–Kiba Inuzuka, as she now knew him in her Math class–had started asking her all sorts of questions. His friends had waved their hands in her face and finally she fled, going to the bathroom and crying. It had been so weird; after a while she went to the door to leave and was surprised to hear both of them arguing outside.

"_What the hell, Shino!? I don't see what your problem is! She's a freak! She never says a word and just sits there! And here you are walking up to see if she's okay! Shit, what the hell!? Who cares if she's okay?? I'm sick and tired of looking at her across the lunch room! It's so _pitiful_! Maybe I could have cared before, but now that I know she's just a brick wall, I hardly want to be her friend! She's boring!"_

"_So am I, but you don't consider me a freak…"_

"_But you're different! You actually open up! She doesn't! I don't see why you're so upset over this! You're not boring; she _is_!"_

"_Well, you didn't have to go off asking her that, Kiba. That was not only rude, but it probably really hurt her feelings. Maybe she _can't _open up. Ever thought of that?"_

"_You're _dead_ to me, Shino! God! I can't even look at you right now!" There was a rush of stomps, and finally a sigh._

"_So you say right before you come over to my house after school, looking for snacks and shaking up my ant farm, you asshole…"_

Her hands started to tremble at the memory, and she peeked back over her book. He was looking at her a little, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, but soon he'd shut it again, instead taking a gulp of soda. She started to tremble, staring back at her book. It went on for an eternity before he stood, cheeks blaring red, saying something about needing to go wash his face.

She watched him go, glanced around a little bit, and soon stood, hurrying off to the library.

–––––––––––––––––––

She dropped into the seat next to Naruto, face red, breaths coming out in soft pants. Naruto, today, was reading a manga eagerly, his eyes just barely ripping themselves away from it as he turned to look at her. He grinned at her, saying a warm hello, before he went back to reading. It was some manga called _Buso Renkin_.

Chouji was sitting, munching on a handful of chips again, button-mashing and trying to beat some boss in the RPG game he was playing on the DS. That just left Shikamaru, who was staring directly at her from the spot where he'd been leaning over toward Chouji to coach him through the battle.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

She looked down at the table, and finally a hand reached over, grabbing the book from her hands. "What the hell is wrong with you, Hinata?"

She looked up at the genius, her eyes narrowing, eyebrows knitting together. "N-Nothing… I just…I…"

"You ran into Neji again?"

She nodded her head, and Shikamaru's fist hit the table, making her jump. "He's on a field trip. Stop lying."

Naruto looked over, finally, concern etched on his face. "Yeah, Hinata. What's wrong? You never look this upset. And you're earlier than usual. Was it Ino?"

She put her face in her hands, shaking her head. "It…It was…a guy."

Naruto stood. "Oh my God! He tried to touch you, didn't he!? What the hell is wrong with people these days!?"

"N-N-No! He…He didn't do anything…" Tears welled up in her eyes. "He just sat down in front of me and started eating… He did it in middle school, too, but he had a friend with him that time… I remember I ran off and cried in the bathroom, and when I was about to leave, I heard them both arguing outside the door… He…He even showed up at my house on Monday… But my Dad told him to leave…"

"What's his name?" They all looked over to see Chouji looking up from his game, the sounds of a failed battle playing from the speakers. He looked interested.

"I…I don't know. He never said anything… He just…sat there…"

Naruto stood, eager. "Then it's obvious! He wanted to be friends with you, but he's too shy to say anything!"

Shikamaru groaned. "As much as I hate to think Naruto's right about something…that actually sounds like it's the case… Maybe he's interested in you and doesn't know how to approach?"

Chouji bit his lip, wincing. "Ah, man, Hinata! That guy's self-confidence must have been _shattered_! You just walked off and left him there?? He must feel so _foolish_! That's about the same as rejecting him entirely!"

Shikamaru backed up his statement. "Ah, yeah. He probably thought the only way for him to talk to you was to go over and sit there. You say he was trying in _middle_ school? He had friends there with him, but this time he didn't have _any_. He finally worked up the courage to talk to you one-on-one and you just _left_ him there? He's probably _crushed_ now."

He stood, grabbing her arm. "Come on, why don't we all go sit with you this time? Who knows? You two might have something in common."

Her face went red. "H-He's… You think he _likes_ me??"

All of the boys there nodded, and Shikamaru reaffirmed his best friend's previous statement. "Yeah. And you pretty much said you had no interest by walking off."

She stuttered. "H-How was I supposed to know?? He never said anything… I…" She buried her face in her hands. "Oh, I feel _terrible_!!"

Naruto walked over, poking her in the side, grinning. "Cheer up, Hinata! You've got us guys to tell you what other guys are _thinking_! With us around, there's no way you can fail in romance!"

"R-Ro-Romance?? I don't…"

Shikamaru groaned, walking over and linking arms with her. "Don't listen to Naruto. He's just psyched someone likes you. Which, it's pretty obvious this guy does. So come on. Why don't we go there and sit with you? Who knows, maybe he'll join our group of friends…" He directed that comment at Naruto, knowing that guy much preferred making friends than he did.

Naruto thrust his fist in the air. "Alright! I hope he's louder than you guys when we get to know him!"

Shikamaru and Chouji just exchanged looks, rolling their eyes.

––––––––––––––––––

Shikamaru was leading her along, and he'd taken away her book so she couldn't hide behind it. The second they hit the lunchroom, she buried her face in her hands. The guy was still sitting there, looking like he'd just lost the will to live! She turned her head to Shikamaru, taking a deep breath to calm herself. All she got in return was a big whiff of cologne. …Since when did Shikamaru wear cologne? He smelled much older than he looked.

That was hardly any of her concern. He pushed her a little, and she went falling back into her seat. She stared at the guy between her fingers, and his jaw had dropped. He looked up at Shikamaru, who sat down beside her. That's when Naruto ran up, slumping into the seat beside her. He raised his hand in the air, his voice nearly hurting her ears it was so loud–that was one of the reasons he never ate in the lunchroom: his voice wound up being louder than ever just so he could hear himself over all the noise.

"You want to be Hinata's friend, you gotta at least _try_ to talk to her! She's not just going to go over and talk to _you_, you know!"

Beside her, Shikamaru chuckled, and she looked over to see him nodding his head a little. "Yeah. You sort of scared her by not saying anything. You could've at least said hello to her."

She heard Chouji munching on his chips somewhere behind her, but what happened next was almost unbearable. Up from the back, where the suspension table was, she heard the Junior, Tayuya, shout.

"Ooooh, Chouji… You've got such cute cheeks… I want to just pinch them!!"

She turned to look at Chouji, who looked highly uncomfortable. He looked at the space between her and Shikamaru, looking as if he desperately wished there were a seat there and enough space so he wouldn't feel so exposed. She felt bad for him; that girl was always teasing him. But her teasing didn't stop there.

"I gave you my number a week ago! Why haven't you called me, cutie!?"

And that's when it happened–one of the older boys, Tayuya's friend Jiroubou, stormed over and grabbed the chips from his hands and threw them to the ground. He stomped on them, voice shouting.

"Who do you think you are!? You're just a freshman!!"

Chouji looked up at him, stuttering. There was some loud sounds coming from the table two tables behind them, but she could barely hear what was going on. Her eyes were completely focused on that taller boy. He was a wrestler. He was strong, and Chouji was much too short compared to him.

Shikamaru glared, turning around and standing, despite the fact he usually kept his mouth shut in situations like these. "What the hell is your problem? Chouji didn't do anything."

The Junior grabbed him, tossing him over the table. A scream caught in her throat. "Sh-Shikamaru…" He spit out some blood, sitting up a little and glaring. She could feel Naruto tensing up beside her; he shot to his feet, but before he could do anything, Chouji had tackled the taller boy to the ground.

"Don't you _dare_ hurt my friends, you jackass!!"

He slugged him in the face a few times, before the boy twisted around, flipping them both over so he had the advantage. They wrestled for a while, before Jiroubou stood. He went to pick up the boy, but Chouji kicked him in the chest, sending him stumbling backward. Chouji stood to rush him once more, but Jiroubou picked him up.

He had him over his head, and he sent him toward the two. She screeched, stepping away from the table as Chouji went tumbling into the food of the boy who had sat with her. She looked over, relieved to see he had stepped out of the way in time, but his soda went rocketing into the air, across the lunch room, where it landed right in Sasuke Uchiha's food.

He stood, shouting something she couldn't hear–she was too busy watching Jiroubou pick Chouji up by his legs and swing him off of the table, back onto the floor–and people started to throw food.

Her eyes turned to Shikamaru, but he was nowhere to be found. Naruto was pelted with what appeared to be Strawberry Jell-o, and he soon dove under the table behind them. She stared at Jiroubou, terrified, because he was still tossing around Chouji like he was a rag doll.

She trembled, and about a few seconds later Chouji had shoved Jiroubou into the table. He slid along it, nearly smacking her in the face in the process, but before he could even touch her, a hand reached out from under the table and yanked her under there by her coat.

She screamed again, hands fisting the shirt of who she thought was Shikamaru, as the table shook above them.

"Ow. That's my _ear_."

She looked up, eyes wide, when she realized it _wasn't_ Shikamaru. It was the boy who'd sat down in front of her. She went bright red, pushing him off of her and trembling all over. He rubbed his head, wincing as another hit to the table caused it to shake. He looked very uncomfortable under there, almost nearly on his belly since he was so tall.

But he still managed to lean over to her, cheeks going slightly pink. "You're not hurt, are you?" He looked her over, even going so far as to bend over and check her back. He sighed, going back to staring at the ground between them. "…Well, that's a relief. I was afraid your head would hit one of the seats on the way down…"

She trembled, desperately wishing one of her friends were here. "…I-I-I'm fine…" His face was right next to her, and she put her hands over her face, peering at him through her fingers.

"All that's running through my head is that one Maximum the Hormone song. What's Up, People? You heard of it? It was the opening for the second season of Death Note. It's not as good as their others, though… I definitely think Bikini Sports Ponchin is one of their best…"

She pulled her hands from her face. "D-D-Death Note? You…You like anime?"

He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. He bit his lip, rubbing the back of his head again and staring at the floor. "I first started watching Dragonball Z in first grade with Kiba…" He finally looked at her, desperately wishing he had those sunglasses to hide behind. "I'm Shino."

She stared at him for a long moment, placing her hands on the ground. "…I'm Hinata." Her face went red again; her voice was nearly over a whisper. "You should try listening to Dir en grey sometime… You'd probably like them…" She looked down, suddenly realizing her hand was directly over his. She brought it back to her chest, face darkening even further. "…Their song Umbrella is the opening theme for Baki the Grappler…"

His eyes widened, and his mouth opened in a half-gape. "…Wow…" He scratched his face, cheeks blaring red. "I thought I was the only one in this school who even cared about stuff like that…"

She looked at him, hands curling to her chest, eyes looking at him earnestly. "A-Ah! All…All of my friends like that sort of thing! They're all very nice! Y-Y-You should try hanging out with them some time…"

His voice came out louder than either of them expected. "I'm not interested in _them_."

––––––––––––––––––

Gaara stared at the counselor, face twisting into instant dislike. The man was smiling too much. He looked like he cared, but he really knew none of them really cared about students. Temari had always told him school counselors only knew how to diagnose, not to get to know students. None of them cared enough to do anything about it. All they did was talk to them and hope they figured out their own problems without anything requiring a lawsuit popping up in the process.

The man chuckled, pulling out his clipboard. "Wow. That food fight in the lunch room was pretty hectic, wouldn't you say…?" He looked down at the clipboard, looking it over. "Man…all those kids in trouble. It's daunting. Students don't realize it, but things like that look fun on the big screen, but in reality the chances of it happening are fairly low. Not to mention they never go into how much paperwork is required at the end of the day in movies like that…" He sighed, looking over at Gaara and smiling again.

"Sorry you had to hear any of that. I'm just stressed is all. You're Gaara, aren't you?" He looked over the clipboard. "You sent Dosu to the hospital and got into that fight with Sasuke…" He flipped one of the pages over. "Your father sent me these records by your professional therapist so we could cut to the chase faster. When was it? Two years ago and lasting for…a year and six months?" He looked back, that smile still plastered on his face.

"Pretty extensive list, Gaara. Just relax and let me know if there's anything bothering you. It won't leave this room."

He narrowed his eyes at him bitterly. That was bullshit. By law, he was required to tell his father anything that was deemed important. He looked down at the ground. "I don't feel I can trust you. After all, you haven't even introduced yourself yet…" He didn't know _where_ that sudden burst of confidence came from. All he knew was that he didn't feel like himself after he'd punched Shikamaru in the face.

The man became flustered. "Oh my! You're absolutely right! I tend to forget about formal introductions with that name plate on the door to my office!" He extended his hand to the redhead, giving him a smile that looked positively genuine that time. "Iruka Umino."

He cleared his throat when Gaara didn't move an inch, and his hand fell back to his knee. He looked down at the clipboard. "I feel it would be best if we started small. How do you like things at home? Is there anything that bothers you?"

Gaara stared at him for the longest time, before his mouth opened and everything came spilling out. "Temari says he's a douche bag, and I can't help but feel that he doesn't care about any of us. With him it's always whether we live up to his expectations, and even though my siblings both have far greater talents than me, he is always prouder of me. I always feel like he's doing the exact opposite of what he thinks."

Iruka's eyes widened, completely surprised that Gaara–who had acted so unwilling to be there–just opened up that quickly. Usually he had to press students a little harder before they mentioned anything other than the usual–school, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends, how their parents wouldn't let them go out with their friends on a Saturday. He opened his mouth before he closed it. He looked at Gaara for the longest time, and Gaara looked down at his hands anxiously.

"He says he cares…but…sometimes I feel like all of his attention is an act to hide how much he hates me…"

"Your father's?"

Gaara nodded, growing more and more uncomfortable. But that wasn't all. His mouth opened, and even more words came spilling from his mouth. "My brother and sister hide things from me. The stuff they hide I never really care about, so it doesn't bother me much…but last night I had another…episode…and I asked my sister about my mother…"

"Did she tell you what you wanted to hear?"

"…What she thought I wanted to hear… She never told me how much Mom hated him…"

"Your father again?" When the redhead nodded, Iruka nodded his head a little. "…Do you have trouble calling him by what he really is?"

Gaara looked up at him, his face completely serious. "Asshole?"

Iruka chuckled, putting a hand over his mouth. "N-No… I mean…do you have trouble calling him your father?"

Gaara's eyes darkened, and his voice came out low, threatening. "But he's not. If he was, he'd be more loving."

Iruka smiled at him. "I'm sure your father loves you. He probably just doesn't know how to express it…"

Gaara stood, anger welling up in his chest, tears finding their way to his face. "Well he needs to learn! We're all suffering because of it!" He wiped at his eyes, finding the tears had started worming their way to his cheeks. He choked back a sob, falling back in his chair. "I'm sorry… Y-You can yell at me if you want…"

Iruka merely looked at him observantly. "You don't have to be sorry for crying. Does your father yell at you when you cry?"

Gaara merely nodded his head, biting his lip and trying to stop the tears as much as he could. Why did he care what this man thought? Why did he care at _all_? The man was just going to turn around and tell his father he was crying, and then his father would give him that same disgusted look. Why was he saying anything? It was just like with the shrink. He'd spilled his guts to her–about his family, about his past, about his friend–, but the second she tried to probe into his real problems, he'd shut up.

"Well…you seem willing to talk about your problems at home to me." His voice changed, became more serious. "It says in the file from your shrink that you have nightmares… You wouldn't tell the shrink, but would you mind telling me? Anything you say will be between just the two of us. Your father doesn't have to know at all."

Gaara looked back up at him, eyes wide, fear seizing him. His tears stopped, and he sucked in a breath. "No…" He stood, feeling himself being torn to pieces on the inside. "You're lying! That's exactly what _she_ said, but I _know_ she let my father know what went on in our sessions! My brother and sister are always talking about it! They know about my nightmares and…" He put his hands to his head, his eyes clenching shut. His head started to pound, waves of pain shooting through his skull to an almost unbearable degree. He felt like he was going to pass out.

"If I told you what I dreamt about, you'd tell! I know you would! It's not like I _choose_ to dream about it, but I do! It's always sitting there, staring at me! Always! I can't get it out of my head! It just sits there and watches everything I do, everyone I see, everything that goes on around me! You wouldn't understand at all!"

Iruka's breathing hitched. So…the part about the borderline personality disorder wasn't exactly bullshit. He just needed to figure out if it was only in his dreams or if it carried out into his everyday life. "What is always sitting there? What watches you, Gaara?"

Gaara's demeanor changed entirely. He lowered his hands to his sides, his breathing return to normal. His face turned to Iruka, his eyes cold, voice completely devoid of emotion. "That's really none of your business, is it?"

There was a buzz from his pager, and Iruka looked at it. "Shit. Naruto's at it again…" He looked at Gaara, contemplating whether it would be okay to leave him there. He picked up the walkie-talkie right next to his pager, punching in a few numbers. It picked up.

"Yes. He's in your class, isn't he, Jiraiya?" Something like panic spread across his face. "Wait, he attacked _who_?? Well, what set him off?" There was some garbled gibberish from the phone, and he sighed, standing. "Well, I'll be down there in a moment. Just…calm down the class and bring him to my office. If you need, I can meet you down there with Yamato to help." His eyes narrowed. "What? No. Kakashi doesn't need to help out this time. Yamato should be enough, but… What?? I think that since he lives with me that reserves the right for me to deal with him personally!..." His face went red. "Kakashi may be a counselor, too, but… No, I am _not_ getting too involved with this, Jiraiya! He's my responsibility, too, damn it! I don't care if you _are_ his godfather! He lives with _me_, not you!"

Iruka hung up the phone, standing, resolute. He turned to Gaara. "You may leave whenever you feel you're ready to go back to Mr. Morino's classroom. But as far as I'm concerned, we're done for today…" He left the room in a hurry, and Gaara watched him go.

A few seconds later, he left the office, figuring it would be best to leave then. He didn't really feel like going back to Ibiki's class, so he decided he'd go into the bathroom to sit and think. He approached the door, opening it.

He froze at the sight of Kiba standing in front of the urinal. His leg was lifted, shoe flat against the wall, his stream of urine aiming for the urinal at a slight angle. He bit his lip, forcing himself not to laugh. He thought he'd been quiet, until the door behind him slammed shut. Kiba dropped his leg immediately, peeking over his shoulder to see who had seen him.

The dog-lover's face paled, and he looked back at urinal, face bright red. A few seconds later, he finished up, zipping up his fly and turning around. He walked over to Gaara, poking him in the chest. "You're going to pretend you never saw that. No. You're going to _forget_ you saw that." His voice was trembling; Gaara could see the fear in his eyes.

He bit his lip, walking to the sink. Kiba went to the door, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep the redhead from seeing just how much they were trembling. Gaara turned to look at him, voice quiet. "Are you afraid of me?" Kiba's hands weren't the only ones trembling.

Kiba turned to look at him, eyes wide. "…D…Don't sound so surprised, you _freak_. Who _wouldn't_ be afraid after hearing that personality flip?" He shuddered visibly, opening the door and getting the hell out of here.

Gaara turned back to the sink, turning on the faucet. He stared at it for the longest time, mind wandering. A shockwave of pain seized his entire body, and he lost control of what he was doing. As he fell to his knees, he felt the pounding in his body spread to his head, and he nearly shouted in pain. After a long, long moment, a voice echoed throughout the room.

"_It's funny, because an idiot like him found out before you did._"

The pain stopped as soon as it started, and he opened his eyes, suddenly aware of his surroundings. He looked around the room, finding no one there. He stood, staring at the faucet. He turned it off in a desperate attempt to drown out the sound that was surely causing his head to pound again, only for it to be replaced by the buzzing of laughter ringing in his ears.

For some reason, despite the fact that he found nothing in particular funny, he burst out laughing.


	8. The Declaration of Love

_Oh wow. This chapter brings in so many more elements. I thought the LAST one had too many plot threads getting threaded? Man, this fic is going to turn into one SERIOUSLY bad sweater. Especially now with everything completely out in the open like it is now. Oh man. Remember where I said the love tattoo was ridiculously out of place in this story where is it in the show? Well, I decided I'd move it._

_And the plot thickens. DUN DUN DUUUUN._

_As far as this chapter goes...it's shit. The ending is alright, as is the beginning, but everything's flitting around so much toward the middle. Do all of you understand what's going on? It's confusing ME, so it must be confusing you. Maybe I should've explained things a bit more clearer. Oh well. As long as I got another chapter posted to move this stagnant plot along._

* * *

**A Quiet Mind  
**_The Declaration of Love_

Kankurou stared at his brother, slightly pissed off that Temari got to drive home when they had to walk. He didn't care how many cracks on him she'd take on him being a big baby, he was _so_ telling on her when Dad got home. Gaara gave him a frigid look, and the theatre nerd shuddered slightly.

The wind picked up, and Gaara immediately started walking home. Kankurou followed behind. After they reached a fair distance from the school, he looked up at the sky, slightly annoyed. "Hana's a bitch."

Gaara glanced back at him, only slightly interested in what his brother was talking about.

"You know what she did to me during theatre?" The theatre nerd elaborated. "She tripped me as I was carrying a big box of stage bulbs off to the storage room. All of them shattered and Mr. Gekkou got real mad at me. You know what she did after he yelled at me? She had the gall to walk right over and say she was sorry. As if she'd _accidentally_ done it! Yeah, I saw her with that smug look on her face as I looked up to see her staring at me, her foot still out there! And then she completely changed and went into this big long dialogue over how I'd tripped and fallen and how I desperately needed someone to make sure I was alright!" He went red, clenching his fists.

"That Inuzuka bitch is going down," replied his younger brother thoughtfully.

Kankurou looked up at his brother, completely stunned. "G-Gaara… Seriously, you don't have to get angry at her on my behalf. I can take care of myself."

"No, look." He pointed off to a field they were passing, where Hana was standing there as three very large dogs–they looked more like wolves than anything–dashed toward her. Kankurou's heart practically leapt out of his chest when he saw it.

"OH my God!" He threw the bag off of his arm and dashed over there. "Hana!"

The dogs caught up with her and tackled her to the ground, and he stopped in his tracks about two feet from her when he realized she was laughing. And they were acting all friendly toward her. He stiffened, and she rubbed one of them on the nose, her face completely red.

"Oh, there's my boys! Waiting for me after school, were you?? Home's in the opposite direction! Were you following my scent to the A&W!?"

One of the dogs spotted him and started to bark, and Hana looked up, her face paling. She stood abruptly, glaring at him. "You got something you want to say?"

Kankurou stared at her for the longest time, before finally he blurted out the only words that came to mind. "I thought you were dog meat."

She stared at him for the longest time, suddenly getting the image of her dogs running toward her in her head, which is what he surely would've seen. She burst out laughing, tossing her hand at him. "Aha ha ha! Y-You idiot! You thought they…! If…f-f-f…If they weren't friendly I surely would've been ready to kick them in the sides or even start running! I guess this means…" She wiped a tear from her eye, regaining her composure. "I guess this means you still feel something for me even after it's dreadfully obvious I only flirted with you for my own gain…"

Kankurou's face went red, and he turned around abruptly. "Like hell I do! I…" He stormed back to where his brother was waiting patiently for him, and he picked up his bag, throwing it over his shoulders. He grabbed Gaara and started walking off. As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew it was still sort of true. Why'd she have to be a babe?

"Kankurou!"

He turned back around, surprised to see the dogs heading off in the opposite direction they were walking in. She walked over, shoving her hands in her pockets. "You're a geek, but it's obvious we're probably going to be working in the play together. We might as well get along."

Kankurou stared at her. "What?" His eyes narrowed, and he looked at her suspiciously. "What are you planning _this_ time?"

She nodded her head toward a building off in the distance. "I was going to go get a root beer from A&W. If you come with me, we can walk back to the school and I can drive you two home after my brother gets out of the detention your brother caused him to get. It _is_ your brother's fault, and now I have to wait for an hour after school for the next week. The least you could do would be to pay for my drink. Your dad's loaded, right? Surely you have money coming out the ass…"

Kankurou stared at her, completely unable to believe she was offering to be his friend at the expense of _him_ buying her a drink. His eyes narrowed. "No way am I buying you a drink just because you think we owe you something."

"I'm offering to drive you two home. You owe me a drink for _that_."

He went red again. "You just want to find out where I live so you can piss me off some more."

"No. I'm just bored because I have to wait while my brother's in detention. Usually I'd get my mother to pick him up later, but she's going to be swamped with work for the next couple of days. Not everyone's parents can get by as easily as yours."

Kankurou shoved her a little. "What the hell do you have against me for my dad being rich? We eat dinner in _silence_ at my house. My father can't stay in the same room as us longer than thirty minutes. You think _you_ have it so hard? Money doesn't solve all problems, you fucking moron."

She glared at him. "I am doing you a favor. Do _not_ get so worked up about it."

"What the hell? No way! I don't care if you _are_ willing to drive us home! No fucking way!"

She stared at them walking off, completely losing the desire to go and get a root beer anymore. After a while, she turned her head back to the school, where her brother was in detention. She sighed, turning back around and following after them. "So what if your father ignores you? At least you _have_ one."

It was Gaara who turned around, his eyes glowering. "…At least you have a mother…" With that, the siblings walked off, leaving her standing there staring at them. She sighed, looking up at the sky, a bit more than upset.

She hadn't even had anything against him before this whole mess! The first time she even _noticed_ him was the year before, when one of the actors freaked out before going on stage and his mind went blank…and there was Kankurou, relaying his lines to him without even the aid of the script. So why did she _care_ about an argument between her brother and _his_ brother? That shouldn't have leaked into their own relationship…if it could be called that…

Why did she even bother to open her mouth in the first place? It was useless, and what she'd gotten in return was more information than she felt either of them wanted to hear come out of his mouth. She'd felt so guilty after he'd gotten in trouble, and now it looked like he didn't trust her at all… She couldn't blame him. After all, part of her was still wanting to make him pay. And the other part? She just didn't know anymore.

But she knew one thing: he was funny.

She sighed, immediately going and following them. "W-Wait up you two! Let me apologize! I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with you, Kankurou! We _will_ be acting together! We need to reach the point where we're not at each other's throats, alright!?"

–––––––––––––––––––

"Three root beers, please…"

The man stared at her, looking at the two boys behind her and quirking a brow. "Anything else?"

Hana sighed and looked back at the two, giving them a look that clearly told them to say 'no, of course not' or even just a simple, 'no'.

Kankurou grabbed his brother–who only looked at him in aggravation–by the shoulders and grinned evilly, his eyes alight with mischief. "Of course! Three cheeseburgers, four orders of large fries, and one of those neat-looking bacon burgers! And make sure to add cheese to that, too!"

Her jaw dropped, and she resisted the urge to uppercut the sophomore bastard. "…You're joking."

Kankurou laughed, waving his hand. "You're right." She gave a sigh of relief, and his voice lifted even louder than before. "I want all of that, and for my _brother_, I'll have a–"

"I may _have_ money, but I'm not _made_ of money, you little shit!"

"…Kankurou… Dad will know we broke the rules if we skip dinner… We can't eat all of that…"

"_Fine_… I guess you can just cut that back to a large order of fries…" He gave Hana a half-thoughtful, half-soured look and quickly averted his eyes, a slight tinge of pink making its way to his cheeks. She narrowed her eyes, going over and licking her thumb, rubbing at his cheek roughly. The second he looked up at her, bewildered, cheeks growing even redder, she smirked and turned back to the counter.

"Had something on your cheek, kid."

He blushed more profusely, resisting the urge to send her flying into the soda-dispenser across the counter. God. Was that what he _was_ to her? Just a sophomore? He was just as much of a _man_ as those Seniors, damn it!

The second their butts hit the booth, as if knowing exactly what he was thinking, she took a sip of her root beer and smiled. "I like older men. Give me a man older than twenty-five and I've got a target." She laughed earnestly, waving her hand toward him. "High school boys are just so immature, you know? I look at you two, and you both remind me of my brother. Even your brother, Kankurou. Inside his head, he's probably got one thing on his mind–tits."

Kankurou gave her a sour look. "Inside his head is none of your business. And you shouldn't assume all high school boys are the same. I'll bet there's at least one guy at this school that's just as mature as a guy over twenty-five." He stuffed five fries in his mouth and took a big gulp of his root beer, cringing inwardly at how sweet it was. It was like diabetes in a cup.

"God, this drink is like diabetes in a cup," he voiced aloud.

The young woman across the table snorted and took another sip. "Today's root beer is extremely sweet. Every day here is a new experience when it comes to the root beer. That's why I like coming here." She turned her eyes to the redhead, who looked as if he were having a hard time swallowing the drink he'd just taken. "What about you? You enjoying it?"

Gaara didn't want to be rude. He didn't want to admit it was making him nauseous…or that everything was making him nauseous after that incident in the bathroom earlier that day. But…he couldn't finish it. He swallowed it disdainfully and shoved the drink away from him, a bit put-off that she'd ordered the biggest size.

"…I'm sick…"

Kankurou looked over, sighing. "Geez, Gaara. What happened at school _this_ time? Any of the in-school suspension kids being rude to you? Temari brought you a lunch, right? Did you at least eat that?" He nudged the fries over toward him. "You'll feel better if you eat something."

He nodded his slowly. "I already ate the lunch she packed. Nothing happened." But it had, and he couldn't shake the feeling of dread at the base of his spine. Why had he started laughing? Why had he heard that voice? What the hell was going on with him? Those thoughts ran through his head, and though he tried to keep them hidden, Hana noticed something.

"Was it Kiba?"

Both boys turned and looked at her, and she sipped at her drink idly, shrugging her shoulders. "What? My brother's an ass at times. I wouldn't be surprised if he said something again. He told me he threw something at you and you threw that paper back with the dog on it. My brother's been known to pick on someone who seems easy." She sighed. "Of course, the one person who kept him in check hardly comes around anymore, but that's fine, I suppose. Although I really _hate_ seeing Neji around the house. Neji this, Neji that. Who gives a flying fuck about Neji?" She smiled at the redhead, grabbing a few fries and handing them to him.

"But trust me. Even if you feel sick, warm food will make you feel better. Especially these fries. A&W makes the best fries."

Gaara ate the fries she handed to him, surprised to find that he _did_ feel just a little bit better. He didn't know how or why, but for some reason it just seemed to calm him. He took a few more, eating them silently, and Kankurou's jaw dropped. The brunet's eyes turned to her, face still facing his brothers, and he whispered.

"How'd you know it would work?"

A smile played on her lips as she took another gulp, shrugging her shoulders yet again. "It works for Kiba, and Kiba is just a teenager who got stuck in childhood." She smiled sadly. "I know I probably shouldn't tell you this, but middle school was the hardest part of my brother's life. I'm just happy he's been able to look past all of that and move forward this easily."

Kankurou turned and looked at Gaara bitterly, as if it were his fault. Though the redhead didn't see the look in his eyes, he could sense that's what he felt. His chest tightened, and he looked down at the table, suddenly losing his appetite. Tears pricked at his eyelashes, but he refused to cry.

"Relax, Gaara."

Before Gaara even realized it, Kankurou had put an arm around his shoulder and whispered, "Remember: communication," and warm, wet tears started rolling down his cheeks. Hana stared at the two brothers, before getting up and going to the restroom to give them some privacy.

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Kankurou slammed the door shut, glaring at the boy in the front seat menacingly as the shit continued to complain mercilessly, digging into Gaara like a fresh steak. The redhead stepped out of the car, looking horribly sick inside, and it took all of Kankurou's self-control to not dent the side of the car or reach over Hana and strangle the pest that was her brother. Seriously–did Kiba _ever_ shut his mouth!? He was almost as bad as that stupid freshman, Naruto! At least Naruto didn't cut into people like that!

Gaara stumbled through the door to the house, and as Hana drove off, Kankurou stared in shock to see Kiba's demeanor change completely. He turned inward, eyes to the dashboard, mouth in a tight line, what Kankurou swore was a bead of sweat dripping down his stupid forehead.

Then, the Inuzuka boy looked over at Hana, his eyes clearly showing fear, mouthing something Kankurou couldn't hear, but could easily read–

"_I was _so_ scared, Hana."_

Kankurou turned his eyes back to the house, to find the door still wide open. He dashed inside the house, tossing his bag onto the ground as he ran, up the steps, into the bathroom, to see Gaara vomiting. His eyebrows knitted together and he slumped into the wall, a hand going to his forehead.

"Gaara…please… We're so, so, so _so_ worried about you! Please tell us what's wrong!"

His vomiting over, Gaara turned his head to look at Kankurou pitifully, his mouth opening but no words coming out. He turned back to the porcelain bowl, the acrid stench of puke filling his nostrils, setting off another round of vomiting.

"God-fucking-damn it!!"

His older brother kicked the side of the wall, leaving a clear dent in the white of the wall, storming down the stairs. He could hear the front door smash into the doorframe, nearly flying off the hinges from what it sounded like. His throat was sore, but the vomit kept coming until nothing was left.

His stomach felt raw and empty, his throat still burned, as he flushed the toilet and washed off.

He could hear his brother breathing heavily before he looked up in the mirror and saw him behind him. Gaara didn't even turn to look his brother directly in the eye, like some defunct Medusa, when Kankurou whispered,

"You're scaring us."

His voice was soft, and it was then that he realized his brother was on the verge of tears. Gaara finally turned and stormed by, locking himself into his room. The second he locked the door, he slumped the backpack off his shoulders and grabbed Tenderheart, squeezing the beloved bear tightly as he tried desperately to forget everything going on.

A fist collided with the wall in the hallway, and he heard Kankurou let out a swear.

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Temari smiled, running her hand through the teen's black hair, smiling wickedly. "He seriously punched you? I wouldn't have expected that…" She leaned over, planting a kiss over his eye and he winced at how tender the spot was.

His grip tightened on her waist, and he nuzzled her face, whispering sweetly into her ear. "You're the nicest girl in stiletto heels I've ever seen, Temari… I'm so glad you decided to go to Poetry Club to see me more often…"

She smirked again, pressing her body against his and planting a kiss on his lips. "I can't help it. It's the only time I get to see you when you're not sneaking into my window at midnight. My brother heard us the other night. I think he suspects it's someone he knows…"

His eyes widened slightly, worried. "Are you sure that's okay? My Dad would be pissed if he knew I had a habit of sneaking into your window. And if your father were t–"

"Oy. Mind if I borrow Temari for a bit?"

The pair looked over at Shikamaru, sour looks on their faces. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders a bit, pointing at her. "She's my chess partner. She matches me more than Asuma, and it's way more entertaining." His eyes drifted to Temari. "You mind?"

After a while, she sighed and stood. "Actually, I really should be going, Shikamaru. My father grounded me, and if I don't get home before seven, he's going to prolong the punishment. I'll see you both later." She turned around, planting a kiss on her partner's face and waving seductively.

As she walked off, heels clicking on the tile, Shikamaru looked over at the teen a little, his tone absolutely bored. "You shouldn't really be here," he pointed out.

"What can I say? She's a steady constant in my life that I need. We both have quite a lot in common, and I can understand her completely." The teen gave Shikamaru a glare, quickly adding, "And chess isn't the game she's best at, freshman. Keep your hands to yourself."

As the older teen walked off, Shikamaru snorted. "You gotta be kidding me. Temari? She is so _not_ my type." He stepped away from the alcove near the bathrooms and went back to the classroom where Asuma was waiting for him, game of chess already half-way in motion, as he was going to try out a new strategy and needed everything in position.

Shikamaru took a seat, and made his move.

"Heard a rumor from a certain Uzumaki that you bagged a hottie, Shikamaru."

"Well…I'm not one to kiss and tell. Her name's staying quiet."

"Well, she's older than you, I heard." The teacher moved his knight, concentrating more on the conversation than the game, according to what Shikamaru was observing. "Let's see…if I start listing girls that are your type and I get the right name, could you tell me then?"

"No. I told you. Her name's–"

"TenTen."

Shikamaru's face went red, and he moved a pawn, causing the thing to swirl around in a circle as it came to an unsteady stop from his clumsy motion, and, without thinking, he blurted out, "How did you _know_?" The second those words left his mouth, he looked up, and clamped his hand over his mouth, glaring daggers at the man across the chess board.

The teacher moved his bishop and looked up at Shikamaru, smiling widely.

"Checkmate."

–––––––––––––––

His car was in the driveway.

Her father had gotten home early.

Her hands trembled as she turned the knob, knowing it wouldn't be locked. As she stepped inside, she saw Gaara and Kankurou at the table, already in place for the inevitable. Her father, for some sick reason, felt that punishment was even crueler when humiliation was involved. And humiliating it was. There was nothing she wanted more than to kick them out of the room and face the punishment mono y mono.

But she couldn't, so resigned herself to her fate and dropped her things by the wall and walked to her seat, eyes turning to the table.

"Temari. You're late."

"P…Poetry club," she forced through clenched teeth.

"Poetry is a waste of time. Do something more meaningful with your time. You were grounded, and you refused to go with the punishment for that stupid poetry club. Tell me, Temari…is it _really_ for the poetry." It was in the form of a statement, as if he actually knew what her answer would be, as if he _knew_ she'd lie about it. Which brother told?

"…Yes. It is. I love…h–…p-poetry…"

"It's a boy, Temari. It has to be. It's written on your face, in your eyes, spread across your cheeks… Who. Is. He?"

She looked up at him, suddenly violent. "He's not important!"

"I forbid you to go." His voice was like a knife, and it cut all of the siblings deeply.

Her fists clenched, and she threw her chair to the ground as she stood. "No! You can't! I need to see him, Dad! It's…It's not fair!"

"Neither is breaking the rules, Temari! As of tomorrow, you will be _joining_ your brother at the counselor's office!!"

"No!!" Her voice was full of anguish, and she pulled on her hair, eyes shut tight. "I have _nothing_ you bastard!! You take away my poetry club and I will have _nothing_!! I have _never_ had anything! It's always gone to Gaara! _Always_!! What does it matter if I'm seeing a guy!? If Gaara were to suddenly get laid, you'd–"

"I NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT SEX!"

Her eyes opened, and she backed away from the table, her eyes as wide as saucers. Oh damn it all to hell. She'd just told _everything_. "D-D-Dad…I…"

"Have you had sex, Temari!?" His voice roared, and she could feel the floor dropping from under her. Her eyes shot to Gaara, but he was staring at the table, shaking. She looked to Kankurou, and he was biting his lip, hands squeezing that hat he'd tucked under the table.

"H…Help… K-Kankurou…G…Gaara…p-pl-please…" A tear started to trickle down her cheek, and she wiped it away just as quickly.

"Don't look at them, Temari! Look at _me_!!" He pounded his fist on the table and she ripped her eyes off her brothers, eyes snapping onto him once again, tears flowing heavily now. She couldn't stop them from falling, and his eyes dulled, distancing himself from that look in her eyes. "You _have_."

"I…" She sobbed, putting her face in her hands and shaking her head. "I haven't, Daddy… I…I swear… Pl-Please…"

"Stop crying! It's pathetic, Temari!! Who is this shit you've slept with!?"

She wiped at her eyes, shaking her head pathetically. "I'm…I'm not telling… He'll be in just as much trouble as me…"

"You're damn right he will be! Don't you _dare_ keep his name a secret from _me_!! I am your father!!"

Her eyes snapped to him, and she shouted. "It goes _way_ beyond you, you bastard! It's not just a matter of _our_ family!! It's his family, too!! And _your_ stupid fucking company that you love more than us!! I hate you!! I fucking _hate_ you!! If I told you, you'd be fucking _proud_ and I can't bear it!!"

His curiosity was piqued, and his voice faltered, growing softer than it had been previously. "P-Proud?? Then why do you refuse to tell me?? Don't you _want_ to make me proud!?"

Her hands clenched and she shook her head. "I don't want to make you proud by who I'm with. I-It's the same with him… I…I just want to make you proud by what I accomplish on my own… By what I do…and by doing the things _I_ like, not what you _want_ me to do… Please don't take this from me…"

His breathing quickened, and he slammed his fist into the table, more angry at himself than at her. "Why am I always the bad guy with you, Temari!? This attitude of yours is pissing me off!" He went quiet, fuming silently and stewing over what he would do. After a while, he took a deep breath.

"Tomorrow you're going to the counselor's office to talk about your problems. You hear me? I'm calling the school and telling them that tomorrow you'll have a session with the counselor. They'll take place every Thursday for the next month. We'll see if your behavior improves by then."

"You…" She pulled her hands away from her eyes. "You can't do that! First you take away my only chance to see him and now you're giving me a shitty day tomorrow!? That's not _fair_!! I'll be the only one having a crappy day!! Kankurou has his play and Gaara has Matsuri! It's not fair!!" Gaara's eyes widened and his eyes snapped onto the blonde, mouth opening to say something. Their father cut him off.

"It's perfectly fair, Temari! You're a big girl, so stop acting so spoiled!! You're going to the counselor's office and that's final! This conversation is over!!" He stormed past her, growling, "Fend for yourselves tonight," as he retreated to his bedroom and slammed the door, unable to look at them anymore.

Temari started to shake, and the waterworks were turned back on. "I can't…I can't deal with him anymore… The only reason why I'd even stay here would be for you two. The _only_ reason." She looked at Kankurou, who'd taken to staring at her. Her eyebrows knitted together.

"…He wasn't supposed to know," the brunet whispered.

Her eyes widened as she realized just what she'd done, and she looked at Gaara. "G-Gaara…I…I'm so sorry… She t-told us–"

Gaara stood, fists clenched, looking like he wanted to just reach over and crush her neck. "What. Are. You. Hiding," he spat in a voice that was not his own. The two siblings shuddered, and Kankurou stood, trying to lighten the situation.

"Look, Gaara, we didn't tell you because she didn't want you to know. She wanted to surprise you!"

"Tell. Me. What."

Temari eyes softened and she wiped at some of the tears, hoping the news would be good for him, hoping he'd forgive them, hoping that in the end things would get better. "M-Matsuri's back. That's…That's _good_, right? You want to see her…right? She starts school tomorrow."

Gaara's head started to throb, and he dashed up the steps as fast as he could. As he fell into his bed, he couldn't keep himself from hyperventilating.

They'd lied to him.

They'd lied to _him_, their own _brother_!

He couldn't trust _anyone_, could he!?

That was it! Everyone betrayed each other, everyone lied and everyone hated and cheated and stole–everyone stabbed each other in the back eventually, be it ten minutes or ten years into the future. There was no hope for the human race. All it was was one big death trap waiting to happen. People habitually destroyed themselves, and the process of destruction was only quickened by social interaction. Loving and getting hurt, laughing and crying–

Trust wasn't a luxury or a blessing: it was a _curse_.

_People_ were curses.

Pain spread from his head-ache, radiating down his arms and legs, pulsing in his toes and in the tips of his fingers. He lost all control and lay there paralyzed, feeling a cold sweat break out on his forehead, staring in horror at the wall. And then it happened again.

The voice returned, sugar sweet and almost…loving.

"_That's my boy, Gaara… You don't need them. You don't need anyone… All you need is me, my sweet, sweet Gaara…"_

"…All…All I need is you…" He put his hands to his head, fingers brushing through his hair as if he'd find the speaker this voice was playing from. Tears started running down his cheeks. "Y-You're right…all I want _is_ you. I'm fine with this…" He started to tremble.

"I'm fine by myself… I'm…I'm fine with…y-you…"

"_Now quickly, before they find out something is wrong…"_

His eyes turned, and he sat up, sweating bullets. He crept into his sister's bedroom, staring at the exacto knife she kept around for the wind chimes she had been making obsessively since she entered middle school. He took a deep breath and went to it, picking it up.

For the longest time he held it in his hand, staring at it, the voice telling him things to do with it. He took a deep breath, listened quickly for the sounds of his two siblings banging around with pots and pans in the kitchen, and lifted the knife.

With another deep breath, he brought it down, into his arm.

" _I love you, Gaara."_


	9. The Dangers of Pointy Objects

_Alright, so I struggled with what I was going to make as Matsuri's character. How she'd be like, what she'd like, which group she'd wind up getting shoved into when she started high school. And…I wound up burning out. I still haven't decided, so, for now, she's going to be a bit wonky. As in, she's shy one minute and brazen the next. Ugh. I think that's okay. She's got a mild Hinata-syndrome in which she's okay around people she knows and shy around people she doesn't. Hence, why she seems to be on "friendly" terms with Sasuke. –sarcasm-_

_Speaking of, you finally get a slew of new characters! Huzzah!_

_By the way, Rock Lee mentions "Coach Shiranui" as his track coach: that would be Genma. Shiranui is his last name. (God, I can never take Rock Lee seriously. I'm terribly sorry he's been tarnished by my fuck-up nature. His speech pattern in this is extremely annoying to me, mainly because I am refusing to use contractions, as contractions denote casual conversation, and his speech pattern in the show is so polite and formal.) I made him say "Miss" in front of all of the girl's names to go along with the fact that he uses polite speech and likes to use honorifics, which are viewed as more polite, especially in instances with strangers. For the boys…I felt Mister was stretching it a bit so I cut that off. Just know he's referring to them politely, too._

_8D Ahhhhhh–– I'm so proud of the interaction between Matsuri and Shikamaru in the bus this chapter. I get tickled pink every time I read it, and I hope everyone else gets a kick out of it, too. Oh, Shika…you'll be manly the older you get. 8D Don't be in such a hurry to change––_

_As for Matsuri's past: In the show, her parents are murdered. And then later Gaara helps her conquer her fear of weapons when she's training to be a kunoichi. Then, she's kidnapped to get to Gaara. In this, I changed it a bit to make more sense. So, her parents worked for the same company Gaara's father helps manage and Sasuke's father works as C.E.O. for. She lives next door to Gaara, and when a bunch of people came to kidnap GAARA, they got the wrong house and wound up murdering her parents and nearly murdering her. Hence, why she lives with her grandmother now and why Gaara can barely look at her and feels so, so, so guilty. I just smushed the two things together, see?_

_I apologize if Matsuri is Sue-ish. I really don't know how to make her character (as I can barely remember the episodes she was in and how she acted) so I'm pretty much just going with the favorable outcomes in situations, like Sues tend to do. Hopefully I'll get the hang of writing her better and she'll be a less Sue-ish. (Not to mention the next chapters won't be solely about her like this one was.)_

_And I apologize the moment between Matsuri and Hinata and Chiyo is so shitty. I wanted to get through it so I didn't even bother making it prettier._

_

* * *

_

**A Quiet Mind**  
_The Dangers of Pointy Objects_

"Such a wonderful morning; I can only hope it will get better," the brunette stated happily as she let her hair down, smiling proudly at the waves her hair had dried into by putting it up while she slept. She popped a CD into her boom box and grabbed the clothes she had hanging up for her first day of school.

Mika's "Love Today" began blaring from the speakers; she couldn't help but smile widely, singing along childishly into her hair brush as she stripped out of her pajamas.

As she slid on her clothes, she bobbed her head with the music and sang, sang, sang, ignoring the sounds from the kitchen as her grandmother called her out for her music being too loud again. She was in too good of a mood to let anything dampen her spirits. Today she'd be going to high school, today she'd be making friends; today she'd be seeing Gaara, hopefully!

As she turned down her music and exited the room for lunch, she grabbed a small plastic charm necklace off of her desk and pulled it around her neck. It was something silly she'd gotten when she was little. The last time she saw Gaara, it was sixth grade, and for her birthday he'd gotten her a small charm attached to a string. It was really simple, just a little plastic raccoon on a little cord, but she held it close to her heart.

He had been her dearest friend all through elementary school.

––––––––––––––––––––

Her grandmother was horribly protective of her after that incident with her parents, but she'd convinced the elderly woman to let her ride the bus to lessen the burden of driving back and forth every day. As she happily walked to the school bus, iPod blaring The Beatles into her ear as she did, she couldn't help but feel the sunshine on her skin and looked up to the sky again, smiling widely.

"Hey, any of you seen her before?"

She froze in stride, turning and looking at the other kids at the bus stop. There were a few upper classman, but most of them looked roughly the same age as her. One girl had her hair up in buns and looked extremely athletic. There was a boy there decked out in a green athletics top and jeans that were so tight they'd put hers to shame, looking like he was disgruntled for missing some pre-school activity. His eyes were big and he had the queerest shiny bowl-cut hair.

Matsuri's cheeks flushed, and she shifted over toward the group, over to a girl with bright pink hair – the one who spoke. There was a boy next to her who looked older, and his hair was bright green. A girl next to _him_ had her hair in a scenester cut, covering one eye.

"H…Hi…"

The pink-haired punkette looked back at her, nodding her head mutely. The green-haired punk gave her a bright grin and nodded his head…but the scenester just stared ahead of her as she explained to the boy that one of the strings on her violin broke and she was now super-pissed. Neither of them said a word, and the punkette just rolled her eyes and looked back to the scenester, choosing to completely ignore the new girl she'd _just_ asked about.

"Hey, new girl, come sit next to me on the bus!"

Matsuri turned her head to the girl with buns, immediately trailing off to friendlier pastures. The boy next to her wailed, throwing his arms in the air over-dramatically.

"Oh! How could this have happened!? Me!! Late for track!! Coach Shiranui will be so angry with me! And Coach Gai is going to be angry I missed soccer practice yesterday afternoon, too!! This can not be!! How could I have sunk this low!? I must try harder!!"

Matsuri looked at him, smiling a little. "You're in track _and_ on the soccer team? Doesn't that get difficult?"

He turned to her, fire in his eyes, zest in his clenched fist. "It is the difficulty that makes it worthwhile! You will understand when you get to be my age! Are you a freshman, Miss…??"

"Oh…I'm…" She flushed, extending a gentle hand and hoping he wouldn't shake it too roughly. "I'm Matsuri… I'm a freshman, yes."

He grabbed her hand, nearly breaking it off in his eagerness. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Matsuri!!" He turned to the girl with the buns in her hair. "Miss TenTen! Did you hear that!? Aside from the beautiful Miss Sakura, she is the only other freshman here!!"

TenTen giggled, extending a far more agreeable hand to the girl, rolling her eyes at her friend. "I'm TenTen, Matsuri. You'll have to forgive Lee. He's…h–" She giggled again. "H-High on life, as you can see…" She cleared her throat, nudging her companion teasingly. "And being one year older doesn't make you all-knowing, Lee." He didn't seem to hear her, distracted by a new potential friend.

Matsuri smiled. "Oh? It's nice to meet you."

The boy, Lee, thrust his fist in the air. "Ah! There is nothing greater than the prime of youth! Coach Gai has made me see just how precious youth is, and I just can not help myself! Oh! I completely forgot to introduce myself! I am Rock Lee, Miss Matsuri!" He grabbed her free hand, shaking it roughly once again, in his eagerness.

Matsuri felt positively unbalanced with one soft hand shaking her left hand, and a rather bumpy earthquake shaking her right hand. "Y-Y-Yes…It's…It's so nice to meet the both of you…" Still, though, she couldn't get the smile off her face. It was nice to see she'd met people this nice this early on in the game. (Her year was looking up!)

"Shut the hell up, Lee. You're making it _so_ difficult to be happy this morning," replied a very angry scenester to their left.

Matsuri's smile faded, and TenTen rolled her eyes. Lee, on the other hand, immediately tried to make amends, running over in almost a split second, kicking up dust as he did so. "Oh! My apologies, Miss Kin! I apologize sincerely for ruining your morning! If there is anything I can–"

A palm flew in front of his face, cutting him off sharply. "You can get the fuck away from me, you freak. Personal. Space."

He paused for a split second, and it nearly appeared as if he would burst into tears for that comment. Tears _did_ begin streaming down his face, but for an entirely different reason. He lifted his hand, determined. "I will do my best, Miss Kin! I will not let you down!"

Matsuri couldn't help but giggle and she turned to TenTen, a smile on her face. "Is he always this animated?"

TenTen gave a pleasant smile and nodded her head. "Yes. It can get _quite_ aggravating when you've known him as long as I have…" She paused, thinking it over, before she tilted her head. "Of course, knowing him as long as I have also makes it easier to deal with."

"Hey, Lee. Is it true you were making out with Neji behind the school? I heard a rumor."

Both brunettes and a very shocked Lee turned to the boy with green hair, who was smirking to himself with the smuggest smile Matsuri had ever seen. His gal pals merely snickered.

Lee gasped, putting his hands to his face. "Z-Z-Zaku!! I would _never_ with Neji! Only with the beautiful Miss Sakura!! And aside from that, Neji says he is dating a girl at a different school!"

"That means he's lying, you dumbass," Kin rebutted lividly, hoping it would repel the beast assaulting them this early in the morning. She was the farthest thing from a morning person, and a broken violin string wasn't helping her mood at all. There was a concert coming up in two days, and both of her parents were too busy to give her a ride to get a new one.

Sakura gave him a pained look, as if she wanted him to leave as much as Kin did. She smiled lightly, shaking her head. "Lee, could you just do us a favor and try to keep quiet for the bus ride? None of _us_ are morning people…"

"I will do anything for you, Miss Sakura!!"

He quickly zipped over to TenTen and gave her a look that clearly said he wanted to prove his undying love to the pink-haired punkette before promptly shutting his mouth into a tight line. He stayed there like that, and Kin resumed telling her friends about the violin string she now had to go halfway across town just to replace.

A few seconds later, a car drove up and stopped, right in front of Sakura. She sucked in a breath, her eyes going wide. "No way…" The window rolled down and there, right in front of them, sat Sasuke Uchiha, a boy that used to go to private school with Matsuri and Gaara. He'd been popular there, so it was no surprise that he'd be popular in public school, too. "FUCK YES!!!" Sakura cried, pumping her fists and forgetting to keep her thoughts to herself and act more normal.

Sasuke gave her a strange look and a much older boy next to him leaned over, his face appearing near his – it was Itachi! Matsuri remembered him better than Sasuke; he'd been a bit hard to get to know, but when she did, he was really nice to her. Ah, and according to the black eye marring Itachi's normally handsome face, they were still brawling with each other as always…

The younger brother paled slightly and opened the door, stepping out to escape the creeper that was his older sibling. "Uh…uh…" He fidgeted slightly, until his brother cleared his throat.

"Sasuke, we need to get going. Get her in the car or I'm driving off without either of you."

"I heard you the first time, bastard!" He opened the door, and Sakura dashed over, hands clenched together over her heart. He went red, stuttering. "Uh…w-w-wo-would you…um…would you like…"

"Would you like a ride to school?" asked his brother. Sasuke turned back, glaring daggers at his older brother and making a motion towards Sakura like he desperately wanted to strangle someone. He closed his eyes, turning back around and shouting at her, his temper rising.

"Do you want a ride to school, Sakura??"

Sakura paled, her eyebrows knitting together. "S-Sorry. Y-Y-Yes I do…" When he opened his eyes, words failed him. He, instead, rubbed the back of his head and tried to apologize. His words were clipped from even beginning when the young man in the front began to speak again.

"I'm already late, Sasuke. Do or don't."

"Do, DO, Itachi!!" He glared, pushing Sakura inside the car and slamming the front door as he climbed in next to her angrily.

Matsuri went pink and tried her best not to laugh. It seemed neither of the Uchiha siblings had changed at all over the past two years.

As the car sped off, Zaku snickered and leaned over to Kin.

"Uchiha said doo-doo. Heh heh heh."

Kin just gave him a strained look and put a hand to her forehead. "God, I wish Dosu were here… If it weren't for Temari's fucking little brother he wouldn't be in the hospital and I wouldn't be stuck listening to your stupidity. I'm going to fucking kill that kid, I swear. The second those teachers aren't around–" She pounded her hand into her fist, eyes blazing. "POW! Right in the back of the neck!"

Before Matsuri could ask what they were talking about, Zaku sighed. "I really don't see what Sakura sees in Sasuke. He's a fucking _jock_."

"Yeah, it seems to run in your group of friends, doesn't it, Zaku?"

Zaku turned to her, slightly interested. "Wait, what do you mean by that, Kin? Is there something you know that I don't? Augh! _You're_ dating a jock, aren't you!?"

"It's not _me_, it's–"

"The bus is here!!!" shouted Lee, his mood returning to that healthy glow.

The second they all slumped onto the bus, Matsuri turned to TenTen. The other brunette was leaning over one of the seats, chatting animatedly with a boy sitting beside a much larger redhead. The larger of the two was tapping away on his Game Boy, and the thinner boy was looking at TenTen like she was God's gift to mankind.

Matsuri felt silent, feeling just slightly uncomfortable at the fact that they'd already formed cliques and she was an outsider here. After a brief moment, TenTen sat back down, and the boy turned himself around, leaning over the back of his seat and extending his hand to her. "You're Matsuri, right? It's nice to meet you. Say, do you like chess? Or video games? Or card games?"

Matsuri stared at him, her mouth finally opening as she shook his hand. "Uh…I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in middle school… If that's what you meant by card games…" She glanced over at TenTen, who was looking at her with a smile on her face. The brunette returned the smile, looking back at the boy. "What's your name?"

"I'm Shikamaru. TenTen's–" Matsuri couldn't help but giggle at how he deepened his voice and puffed out his chest a little, trying to be manly. "–_boyfriend_." He looked at TenTen, smiling, proud of himself. He'd probably gotten a hearty pat on the back from his father the night before, judging by the look he was giving her.

Matsuri laughed. "You two look good together."

Both went pink and Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head happily. "I don't look too young or anything, do I?"

"No! You look…" She glanced over at TenTen, who was trying to hide the smile on her face, and looked back at Shikamaru, giving him an overly serious look and nodding her head. "You look _so_ manly, Shikamaru. Are you growing _facial_ hair?"

Shikamaru rubbed his chin, looking slightly ecstatic. "Really? You noticed? I've already got some chest hair, so–"

"Oh…Oh _wow_. Y-Your manliness can not be measured by mere mortal standards," she said, trying her best not to laugh. TenTen looked like she was having a hard time fighting the urge to burst out laughing as well.

Shikamaru looked quite pleased with himself. "Sweet." He kissed TenTen on the cheek and grinned. "I'll talk to you later…_babe_." He looked like he'd been wanting to say it for quite some time, and had even practiced in the mirror beforehand to get it just as suave as he wanted.

TenTen giggled and waved coyly at him, and he sat back down. After he'd done that, she leaned over toward Matsuri. "I know you were just humoring him, but please don't say that again… He's mine."

"Don't worry. I won't. I've already got someone I like." She lowered her eyes, twisting her fingers together anxiously. "Um…Ten…TenTen…? That…Kin…said something about a boy named Dosu… Do you…know anything about that?"

TenTen looked up at the ceiling, putting a finger to her lips thoughtfully. Finally, she looked over at the other brunette. "Matsuri, there's one thing you should know if you're going to go to this school– No…" She looked back down, biting her lip in an attempt to stall for time in order to organize her thoughts. Finally, she cleared her throat and nodded her head. "Well…I sort of know Dosu because he lives near me and Kin and Zaku, but the three of them aren't the type of people that people really _like_, you know?"

"No, I don't know what you mean."

"What I mean is…Dosu's not as likeable as some of the other kids at this school. He's really quiet from what I've seen with him and his friends, and his opinions tend to be critical of others…" She shrugged her shoulders. "The teachers say he's out sick, but there's a rumor going around that the youngest Sabaku sibling sent him to the hospital."

"…The youngest…"

"Yes."

Her chest went cold and a shiver ran up her spine. "Gaara? Was his name _Gaara_?" Her face paled, sure that something was terribly wrong, sure that something must've happened after she left.

"…I _think_ so. I think he's the redhead that sits with Temari at lunch." TenTen shrugged. "But Kiba, that's the guy who's been informing everyone, is known to have a vendetta against that guy, so he probably just made the entire thing up." Her eyes lit up with realization. "Oh! _Gaara_! He's the guy that got into a fight with Sasuke on Tuesday, wasn't he!?"

Shikamaru turned around, suddenly interested in their conversation. "The bastard also gave me a black eye for no reason."

TenTen's jaw dropped. "He's the one that gave you that black eye??"

"Yeah, but it's no big deal. I can understand why he'd get pissed off at me. Naruto was annoying him."

"Oh…" TenTen nodded her head, understanding the situation perfectly.

Matsuri blinked. "Naruto? Who's he?"

The pair went silent, as if neither of them wanted to tell her about him. Finally, Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah…Naruto's a bit of a goof and not a lot of people like him. He's one of my friends, actually. He means well, but most of the time…he's just loud. He got into a fist fight with Ino Yamanaka the other day."

TenTen burst out laughing, leaning over toward him. "You _serious_!? He got into a _fist_ fight with Ino!? How badly did he beat her!?" She looked all too happy to hear for some real damage.

The two trailed off into gossip and Matsuri looked down at her backpack, her eyebrows knitting together. Just what happened to Gaara in the some two years since she'd seen him? He was getting into fights and not acting like himself…and…

Was he still the same boy she knew back in elementary school? The same boy who desperately wanted friends but managed to get only jeers instead?

–––––––––––––––

The bus pulled into the bus stop, dropping off its passengers for an _enthralling_ day of school. The flurry of kids getting off there was astounding, and Matsuri was almost afraid to see what lunch was like. She'd heard this school was smaller than most public schools, but if a third of the students rode the bus, as was portrayed as average in all of the movies she'd seen, there had to be hundreds more _inside_.

She trembled as she stepped off the bus, the absence of music bringing her crashing back to reality:

She was getting an education at _school_ rather than at home like she had been all during middle school after her parents were killed; she didn't know _anyone_; Gaara was acting strange and she was almost positive he wasn't going to accept her back as kindly as she'd assumed at the beginning of the day.

As if her thoughts weren't enough to get her down, what happened next crushed her to pieces.

"Hey, there, girlie!"

She turned to see a boy approaching her, an upper classman, judging by his height. His face was nice and tan, his hair black and mussed, forming either a half-assed attempt at a mullet or absolute carelessness in his appearance. Actually, scratch that – he had it tied back in a ponytail, now that she could see him closer. The boy was wearing a big grin on his face, and his height made her feel very small. As he grew closer, his features came into focus, and, despite the innocent smile, his eyes held absolutely nothing of the sort. Not only that, but she was starting to see the black-eye formed around his eye and the bruised cheek to his left. A few scratches lined his chin, and it also looked like his neck had sustained some damage in a fight.

He looked _dangerous_.

"You look new here!" He gave her a goofy grin and waved in her direction, sending shivers up her spine.

"I'm…eh…I–I _am_," she whispered, backing slowly into a wall. A few kids walked by and observed her predicament, opting to not get involved. It was like entering a den of wolves and discovering she'd been smeared in sheep's blood on the way in.

A few steps closer and he was within arm's length from her, and a few steps after that he had his hand on her arm, staring straight into her wide, frightened eyes. He pouted, his eyes alighting with mischief. "Hey now, don't be frightened, girlie. Your old pal Kidoumaru wants to show you around school. What name does a pretty girl like you go by?"

Just faintly, she managed to give a weak cry of submission, shutting her eyes tightly and looking to the side. "T-T-Temari," she managed to squeeze out, in hopes that he'd leave her alone. The last thing she wanted was for this dangerous boy to know her name.

He chuckled, and she looked up at him to see his expression completely different. He winked at her, folding his arms over his chest. "You're in luck. I happen to be after a girl named Temari…" He leaned down, close enough to take a whiff of her hair. "But you don't have her blonde hair or smell like she does…" His hand slammed the wall beside her face, and he leaned right up to her face, close enough so she could feel his breath on her cheek.

"Do I scare you, girlie? Because it seems to me you're lying."

"Kidoumaru…" A pair of voices rang out in unison, startling the now quiet air of the bus stop.

The boy turned, his eyes widening, to see a pair of boys by the door, their hair pale, skin pale, everything about them pale. It even appeared as if their personalities were pale, judging by how emotionless they looked. Kidoumaru actually shivered and took a step away from her, fleeing to the wall just as she had done.

"Sakon, Ukon," he acknowledged…and stiffly, she noted.

One spoke, glancing over at his twin for a split second before turning back to Kidoumaru. "We saw you outside and had to say hello…" he started.

"And when we saw your making friends with that girl," the other continued.

"We just couldn't be left out of all of the fun!" both finished cheerfully, with bright smiles on their faces.

Kidoumaru shook visibly and fled to the corner of the building, finding that to go tearing all the way around the school was a much wiser plan of action than passing by the twins and entering through the door behind them. Whatever the case was, they seemed to just grow even more amused by his reaction. A sick moment passed until one of the twins – one wearing a chain around his neck – leaned over toward the wall, as if expecting the sexual deviant to change his mind and come walking back.

"Do ya think he's gone, Ukon?"

The one named Ukon shrugged his shoulders, his voice almost monotone. "Doesn't matter. We can just scare him if he walks back by pressing ourselves against the girl. No script or anything required." He turned his teal eyes to the brunette, yawning. "Don't mind Kidoumaru. We've hated him since middle school. He's not the type to stop if you say no."

His twin nodded his head, backing up his brother's point. "His escapade with Tayuya just coddled him to the point where he thinks he can get whoever he sets his eyes on. I hate her, too. The only one I like is Jiroubou."

"Jiroubou is nice, in a big teddy bear kind of way," Ukon said with a half-smile.

Matsuri took a step away from the wall, shuffling over toward them a bit quicker than she had originally thought. These two also seemed strange, and she wasn't quite sure if she could trust them yet. "Thank you."

"You lied about being Temari," they both said in unison.

Her face fell. Temari must've been well-known in this school. There was no way around it, then. She'd just have to risk it. "…I'm…Matsuri," she corrected herself quietly, hoping to make amends for her lie.

The two looked at each other, as if speaking with their eyes. "Should we?" the one with the chain around his neck asked.

The other twin – Ukon – replied a haughty, "I'm game if you are. Let's just get this shit over with," and the two pressed their knuckles together.

"Wonder twin powers, activate!" they both cried.

The first, more emotive of the two, struck a pose and lifted his arm in the air, pointing like a gun. "Form of, my twin brother Ukon!"

The other repeated it, so that the two looked like Charlie's Angels minus an angel, a bit less enthusiastic, but his eyes showed all she needed to know he actually enjoyed their stupidity. "Form of, my twin brother Sakon!"

Without another word, the two mussed their hair, switching the parts in it, Sakon removing his necklace and giving it to Ukon, Ukon placing it around his neck. The two then spun, taking each other's place. When their strange ritual was over, the two looked exactly like the other – both had even been wearing the same clothes to complete the effect, too – and Matsuri's jaw dropped.

They both looked at her, and Sakon popped his collar, nodding his head toward her. "Whatcha think?"

"…eh…It needs work…" She brushed past them on her way inside, her face beet red from embarrassment. Heck, she wasn't even a part of that and _she_ felt ashamed. It was a wonder those two even had friends.

Just when she thought she'd lost them, she heard hurried footsteps behind her. _'Oh great,' _she thought to herself. A few seconds later they were on her, circling around her as she walked like a pair of defective sharks. After a moment of trying to hide from the few people she passed watching her, she finally stopped.

"Wh-What do you want?"

They stopped in time, and Sakon, Ukon-clothed, smiled. "Actually, we were wondering if you needed someone to show you to your first class, since we're–"

"–nicer than most of the other people at this school," Ukon, Sakon-clothed, interrupted. The brothers shared a high five and a joint, "Hell yes! That's the seventh time today!" as if it was the coolest thing they could finish each other's sentences.

A bead of sweat made its way down her temple and she rubbed at her reddening cheeks. No, she couldn't trust these two, could she? Both of them finishing each other's sentences, both getting all into that little two-man team of stupidity… These two couldn't possibly have had friends. They were too bizarre, too closed-off to let anyone in their two-man clique.

They were _freaks_.

"I'll get the Wonder Twins showing me to my first class?" she asked, hoping the disgust wouldn't leak into her voice.

"The…Wonder Twins?" Both brothers looked at each other, their faces brightening. Even the more stoic-inclined Ukon seemed to brighten more considerably. They both high-fived each other and dashed off. "Yes! We're twice as cool as the fucking WATERMELON!!"

Matsuri watched them go, feeling the bottom drop out from under her. She could practically _hear_ the static from a television echo around her as her mind went completely blank from shock. Her nervous smile descended into a deep-set frown. So…they'd just been looking for her to acknowledge them as the Wonder Twins? Ridiculous! They were just blundering idiots, and rude ones at that!!

"The _Watermelon_? What the heck is the _Watermelon_?"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a boy with a bright orange hoodie called out against the wall, from where he was talking with a girl with short-cropped, black hair. "The Watermelon? That's Sakura and Zaku!" Shikamaru and his bigger friend were with them, but TenTen was nowhere to be seen. The boy nodded his head as Matsuri turned to stare at him.

"Who are _they_?"

"It's their hair that earns them that collective title. Green and pink." He glared to himself, as if he desperately wanted to dye his hair green to get in on some of that action. It was obvious by the look of jealousy in his eyes that he was smitten.

Matsuri's eyes widened in recognition as she made her way over to the pair, hopeful once more for the prospect of friends. These two seemed alright, and the girl looked innocent enough. "Pink and green?" she asked. "There was a girl with pink hair and a boy with green hair on my bus, but she wound up getting a ride to school with Sa…uh…some kid and his older brother." The last thing she wanted for anyone to find out she already knew who Sasuke was. That would give her more attention than she wanted drawn to her.

The blond clenched his fists, shouting out loud and not caring who heard. "That's why she wasn't here this morning!? Damn it, Sasuke! I won't lose, you hear me!?" He looked around, as if expecting to see Sasuke walk out from behind the corner right then and there and leer at him arrogantly. (Knowing Sasuke as long as she had, she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd _been_ hiding somewhere, listening on accident and showing up just to piss him off.)

Shikamaru smirked at his loud friend, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't you be at the suspension classroom with Mr. Morino, Naruto?"

"Oh, crap!" The one named Naruto jumped in place, fists unclenching only to clench again. "You're right! Shit! I'll see you guys later, then! Bye, Chouji! Bye, Shikamaru! Bye, Hinata!" As he dashed off, her heart skipped a beat when he looked back at her and waved with a happy grin on his face. "Bye, friend of Shikamaru's whom I'll hopefully meet at the bus stop after school!"

Her face brightened. These people seemed willing to make friends with her. That was a start, wasn't it?

Shikamaru chuckled at the silence that settled between all of them after the source of the noise left. The bigger guy – Chouji – fiddled with the Game Boy in his hands, poking his tongue out in frustration, and the girl – Hinata – stared at the ground, occasionally looking up at Matsuri with curious eyes.

"That Naruto," Shikamaru began.

Matsuri stupidly interrupted him, hoping that since they'd called out to her like that before and that, since she'd been introduced to Shikamaru, she'd be able to get some help. "Um…would any of you be willing to help me find my way to my class?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head, glancing back at the clock. "Ah…I have to get to class, actually." He started walking off, as if shirking the responsibility of escorting her. Chouji followed close behind…but Hinata stayed against the wall.

Hinata stared at the ground for the longest time before she looked back at them wistfully. Shikamaru glanced back at her and gave her a soft, encouraging smile, shooing her a bit with his hand. With that done, he continued walking in listless strides to the corner of the hallway. Chouji shouted out something about his melee fighter being damn slow and the skinnier of the pair proceeded to then offer advice.

An eternity passed before Hinata took a few timid steps away from the wall.

"U-U-Um…w…what's your first class?"

"I'm not sure. I still don't know where the office is."

The girl nodded, walking off. Matsuri followed, clearing her throat and trying her hardest to be polite. "Um…where are we going?"

Hinata's face turned an even darker shade of red, realizing she'd forgotten to speak up again. "…The office. Sorry…"

Matsuri nodded. They reached the office rather slowly, and she snagged her schedule. After a brief moment of looking it over, Hinata asked the same question. This time, she could answer.

"Pre-Algebra with Miss Kurenai."

"Oh. A-Alright."

Hinata nodded and started walking off again. Matsuri started to follow her, not really knowing what else to do. Should she strike up a conversation? Ask her if she liked card games like her friends? What should could she ask about and what would Hinata be willing to answer? As the pair continued until they reached a stairwell at the corner of the school and went the up stairwell to the third floor, the brunette couldn't shake the feeling that this girl was taking her in the wrong direction.

Hinata finally stopped and pointed at a classroom Matsuri had been too busy worrying about getting lost to notice they'd reached. "Th-This is Miss Kurenai's class…" The timid girl turned her eyes to the floor and shuffled through the door, and Matsuri followed her in.

Hinata had the same class as her…?

Why hadn't she said so earlier?

––––––––––––––––––

Her second period class was Biology, and she was already regretting taking the course. While biology was great and all, chemistry had been her forte. Why had she decided to take Biology instead? She _had_ to be stubborn and take a class she hadn't taken before, hadn't she?

A few seconds passed before someone slumped down into the seat beside her in a huff. She turned to see who it was and paled. Of all of her luck, she had to get stuck sitting next to Sasuke on her first day! She looked away immediately, hoping he wouldn't notice her. It had been a while, and she must've changed by then. Her hair was a bit longer, and she'd taken to pulling it up out of her face now, so he couldn't possibly recognize her anymore. A few seconds later, she glanced back only to find him staring right at her. When he caught sight of her eyes, recognition spread through his entire face.

"Matsuri?"

Matsuri nodded, shifting in her seat a little. She'd never been too fond of Sasuke, but his older brother had been nice. He hadn't been that bad, really, but then his brother had to get all of the attention and Sasuke grew into a stoic introvert.

The Uchiha cleared his throat and stood, immediately retreating to the table behind her. Her face paled even further and she looked back at him. He stared at her as if she had two heads, and she looked back at the table.

He'd never been too fond of her either, now that she remembered private school clearly.

"Um…it's…it's n-nice to see you taking a positive step forward after your parents…and all…of that…" he muttered hoarsely.

Her eyes widened and she whirled back around. The effort on his part looked almost unbearable, and she gave him a small, grateful smile– "Thank you, Sasuke. Give your parents my regards. Oh, and tell Itachi I said hello."

His face froze before it fell, and he began tapping on the table angrily. "Yeah. You should come over for dinner sometime. We'd all _love_ to have you," he glowered. "Maybe you can take my place at the table while you're at it all," he said snidely, at his own expense.

Sighing, she gave him a pitying look. She would've thought the pink-haired girl at the bus stop pointed to _him_ taking a positive step forward, but it was obvious he was as sour as ever. "You don't give yourself nearly enough credit, Sasuke," she informed him. "I'm sure you could be really sweet if you were to get over yourself. You'll never keep that girl of yours if you keep that sour attitude."

He tensed up, his knuckles turning white as he tried uselessly to grip the table. "Don't give me that crap. Like you could _possibly_ know what I go through at home!"

"You used to be nice, but because of this whole obsession with beating Itachi you turned into an asshole," she said bluntly, shrugging impassively.

"I used to think you were nice, too, but then you started hanging around the _nutjob_."

Her jaw clenched. "Do you mean Gaara? Because he's not a nutjob."

"I _do_ mean Gaara," he smiled smugly, hoping to ruffle her feathers a bit. "He gave me a black-eye the other day, you know."

She pursed her lips together, narrowing her eyes. _Good. That way you'll match when _I_ give you one _today_, _she thought darkly. She'd never say it out loud, but she actually found the thought of Gaara finally turning around and wailing on him slightly humorous. Of course, it wasn't like him at all and she was worried about _that_, but Sasuke needed some sense smacked into him.

He gritted his teeth when she didn't answer him, positively livid. So he struck up a conversation and she had the nerve to call him an asshole, but then nothing after that? Didn't she have _anything_ to say to him?

A blonde slid into the seat next to him, immediately slipping her bone-thin arms around one of his and pressing her face against his shoulder. "Sasuke, dear, is this rugrat bothering you?"

He sneered and wormed his way away from her, shuddering at the sight of the scratch along her chin. "Uh…Ino…didn't I tell you to not touch me?"

"I'll lose you to Sakura if I don't."

He stared at her for the longest time before he finally sighed, rubbing the back of his head. He scowled and turned back to the front of the classroom. _You kind of already have,_ he thought to himself, not wanting to risk saying it under his breath for her to accidentally overhear. The last thing he wanted was conflict after that fight with Gaara the other day. His father would be _pissed_ if he got into another fight, especially with a girl. Matsuri, on the other hand, was a family friend and wouldn't dream of telling her grandmother she got into a fight with one of the Uchiha siblings, so he had no problem riling her up at all.

Ino did what she did best and wormed her way back toward him, and Matsuri spun back around and stared at the blacktop of the table she was sitting at. This was one thing she wanted to stay out of.

When she heard the familiar voice of the pink punkette, she knew Sasuke was in trouble. Turning around, she could see Sakura standing and glaring at Ino, telling her to move to a different table. Sasuke sat in the middle of the two girls, looking absolutely miserable as Ino demanded him to tell her who he really cared about. Sakura was giving him the same look, only more for Ino's benefit rather than for herself or Sasuke's.

Her face fell, and she rolled her eyes. She didn't know why she was doing this, but there was just something so pitiful about Sasuke. Sakura seemed nice enough, and caring enough to tell him to his face how stupid he was being. With a new-found mission, she took it upon herself to make sure Sasuke got the sense smacked into him from the only person he'd let get close: She had to keep Ino out of the picture no matter what the cost, so Sasuke and Sakura's relationship could continue on until he started acting _nice_ again.

"Oh my goodness, I love your hair!" Matsuri cried out all of a sudden, stunning all three of them. "How'd you get it so blonde?? You look like a supermodel!" She directed her comment toward the blonde, hoping to butter her up and get her away from the table.

Ino turned and looked at her as if she were crazy before she glanced sidelong at Sasuke and back at the brunette. She let a small smile grace her lips, and she cleared her throat – when it came to compliments about her looks, she couldn't _possibly_ stay angry at someone interrupting her conversation. "Actually, this is all _natural_," she said. "You have a pretty complexion, too, but you have a few zits on your forehead. I could help you with those! What's your name?"

"Matsuri," the brunette replied shyly. She looked over at Sasuke, shooting him a "you better thank me for this" look. "Could I ask you to change spots? I want tips."

His eyes widened before he grabbed his things and stood immediately. "I…I wouldn't want to intrude," he said a bit brighter than most people at that school heard from him, and she knew he really meant, "thank you." They switched spots and Sakura spent the rest of the class period telling Sasuke how awesome he was. Matsuri, on the other hand, was almost sure Ino's rant about skin care turned into a rant about Sakura's forehead halfway through, but that could've just been her imagination.

Rolling her eyes and trying to concentrate on the teacher after class started as it wore on were two things that came increasingly easier as the blonde jabbered on and on and on…

–––––––––––––––––

The day went on as usual, and then lunch rolled around. As she walked into the lunch room, she could see Temari sitting by herself near the entrance of the lunch room. A few tables down sat Sakura and Zaku and Kin, the kids at her bus stop, all tense and glancing over at Temari every once in a while. Temari kept looking back over near her, and she almost thought she was looking at her. The blonde stood up and walked over to her, her high heels clicking against the tiled floors.

She could see the recognition in the older girl's eyes before she even got there, and when Temari finally stopped in front of her, they were both ready. They both grabbed each other's hands and shared excited smiles, all the while fighting the urge to bounce up and down ad start squealing.

"Oh! I haven't seen you in so long! It's so good to see you again!" Temari exclaimed.

Matsuri quelled the squeal building in the back of her throat and looked the blonde over. "Same here! You've changed so much! And look at what you did to your _hair_! You look so much older, I'm surprised! I thought you were older before, but you seem more womanly!!"

Temari leaned in and cupped her hand over the brunette's ear. "To be honest, me and Itachi have taken it to the next level. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone!!"

Matsuri's jaw dropped. "You two were _together_!? For how long!?"

Temari snickered at her naiveté and ruffled her hair, dragging her out of the cafeteria. "When I used to look over you when your parents…er…" She cleared her throat before forcing a laugh. "He was _always_ coming over, remember?? Didn't you ever find it strange? I mean, we've been together since _middle school_! Eighth grade! You know, back when Sasuke was just a little less closed off?"

Matsuri went red. "He's in my biology class. He's as stubborn as ever. Apparently he's dating a girl named Sakura now…" Her face darkened even further. "Um…how…how is _Gaara_? Is he doing fine? I've…heard some _things_…"

Temari forced a smile onto her face. "I have a lunch for him. Take it to him, would you? I'm afraid he isn't talking to me or Kankurou lately. We made him angry, it seems."

The brunette stared at her for a long time before her eyebrows knitted together. "Is everything _really_ alright, Temari? I can't put my finger on it, but you look sadder than you used to…"

"Everything's fine," Temari replied snippily, turning to leave. "Just worry about Gaara, okay? That's who we're all worried about now." For a moment, she turned to look at Matsuri again, her façade cracking for a moment. "If I stopped worrying about Gaara, I wouldn't know what I'd do with myself."

Matsuri's eyes softened and she walked over to her, clearing her throat and taking everything in stride. "Alright, Temari. Where's his lunch?"

––––––––––––––

Gaara stared down at the table as the three delinquents beside him continued smarting off to each other. After a brief moment of silence, Kidoumaru clamped a hand on his shoulder and snickered.

"Hey, Gaara. I wasn't aware your sister was a freshman like you now!"

His eyes widened, and he turned to stare at him. The boy, in turn, took a fork and stuck it in his mashed potatoes, stuffing it in his mouth with relish. "Yeah, I saw her in the back where the buses are this morning! I couldn't believe it," he laughed out loud. "She shrank and had brown hair and everything! Your sister's pretty magical, eh, Gaara??" To further get on his bad side, he decided to ruffle his hair, earning a silent snarl from the younger boy.

Tayuya stifled a snicker and leaned over the table. "Come _on_, Kidoumaru, stop messing with his little fishie head! You did _not_ fucking see Temari at the bus stop! The bitch fuckin' drives to school, remember??" Jiroubou shot her a gentleman's glare, and Tayuya flipped him the bird before he could scold her for her language.

"Oh?" Kidoumaru grinned, winking at her. "But I'm not lying! See– she's walking right over here!"

The four turned to see a brunette walking up with a sack lunch, her face bright red, walking as slow as she possibly could. She glanced at Gaara and turned her eyes away, taking a step towards the table and shoving the lunch in front of him. "Um," she mumbled. "Y-Your sister wanted me to give this to you…"

Tayuya's face brightened, and she grabbed the girl by the wrist. "Oh! Such a cute little girl! She your girlfriend, Gaara??" She leaned toward the brunette and took a whiff of her hair. "Smells nice, too! Is that lavender I smell?? I use the same fuckin' shampoo! Awesome! It's so nice to be young! You two already have sex yet? I was fourteen when I fucked Kidoumaru!!"

The brunette's face turned almost purple, and she stumbled backward. "N-No, it's not like that! We-We're just friends!" She cast a pained look toward Gaara to see him giving her a scathing glare.

Gaara stood, snarling. "Go away, Matsuri," he told her, grabbing the lunch and pulling it toward him. "There's no sense in you being here, so just _go away_."

Her face paled, and she spun out of Tayuya's grip and dashed out of the cafeteria. Tayuya leaned across the table and ruffled Gaara's hair, pursing her lips together. "Oh, you didn't have to be so mean to the poor girl, you little jackass. She was _just_ giving you lunch…"

He smacked her hand away and buried himself in his lunch, positively livid.

The three went quiet, all turning and rolling their eyes at each other. Kidoumaru whistled and took a bite of his mashed potatoes again. "Wow. Freshmen sure are jerks these days, aren't they? When I was your age I was the nicest person in the world." He flashed a smile, earning an eye roll from his friends, and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm _still_ a nice guy." He looked off in the direction Matsuri had run off in, grinning lewdly to himself. "At least I know how to treat girls."

"Shut _up_," Gaara hissed in a voice that was not his own, unwrapping the bologna sandwich and taking a savage bite out of it. "The only girls you know how to treat are the ones who put out. You better stay _away_ from her if you know what's good for you."

Kidoumaru's jaw dropped, and Tayuya burst out laughing. "Ah ha ha!! He got you there, Kidoumaru!! You're an _ass_!! Tell me, how many girls have you gone through this week??"

"Not as many men as you have, I can tell you that much," he replied bitterly, glaring down at his mashed potatoes. He gave a glance over in Gaara's direction before pushing the freshman's head into the sacked lunch. "Respect your elders, kid. Else you'll turn out like me, heh heh."

Jiroubou changed the subject with an easy-going smile. "Hey, Tayuya, I heard Zaku and Sakura broke up. She's going out with Sasuke now."

Tayuya burst out laughing, slamming her fist into the table. "You dumbass! The Watermelon was never dating in the first place! Zaku's fuckin' got a hard-on for Kin and Sakura's been wet for Pretty-boy Sasuke since fuckin' middle school!!"

Jiroubou's face turned scarlet red with embarrassment as Kidoumaru started laughing, too, until the aide that had escorted Naruto to the bathroom came back and told them to shut up. Gaara's head just continued to pound as he took another bite from his sandwich and rubbed at his arm, the word "LOVE" covered by the long-sleeves he'd decided to wear today. It was starting to heal and, despite it being puffy, red, and sore, he felt compelled to rub at it.

"Hey, Gaara! What's with you?? You look upset!" Naruto shouted as he sat back in his seat and took a bite of the Chinese noodles from the cafeteria, the spaghetti noodles leftover from Italian day and drenched in soy sauce.

Gaara just stared at the bag, grabbing it close to him and staring at the spot Matsuri's hands had last touched it, head pounding with pain, seething to himself the entire time.

He'd gone and yelled at her. She'd been the only who'd ever reached out to him, and he'd yelled at her.

–––––––––––––

Matsuri stumbled out of the bathroom and rubbed her eyes. They weren't puffy and red, but she still didn't want anyone to see her right now. Gaara had _changed_ a _lot_ in two years. He didn't even seem like himself. Worst of all, it didn't seem like he had any interest in being her friend anymore. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath to calm herself down to face Temari. No doubt she'd ask questions and–

"Matsuri? When did you start going here?"

She turned to see Itachi standing there, his hand on the door to the boy's bathroom, surprised to see her. He hadn't changed much since the last time she saw him – he'd started maturing his second year in middle school –, but he seemed…different.

"Itachi?"

"Yes," he said simply, staring at her all the while.

Matsuri forced a bright smile onto her face. "I started today. It's pretty fun so far. I'm having a lot of fun back in school again!" She chuckled and glanced back toward the cafeteria, and Itachi cleared his throat.

"Well, it's nice to see someone's staying positive. Hang in there, okay?"

She nodded, and he reached for the handle to the bathroom again. "Hey, if you get Sasuke in any of your classes, keep an eye on him, will you? I want to know if he starts improving."

"I've got biology with him. He looks really happy around a girl named Sakura!" she exclaimed as he nodded curtly and opened the door. She cleared her throat. "Oh, and Itachi?" When he turned to look at her, she gave him a worried smile. "Temari doesn't look so hot lately. Make sure to cheer _her_ up, okay? I'll keep an eye on Sasuke if you keep an eye on Temari, okay?"

His face turned a bright shade of red as the brunette dashed off, and he ducked into the bathroom.

"Crap. How the hell did she find out about that? Temari promised she wouldn't tell anyone!"

–––––––––––––––––

Temari leaned back in her chair, cracking her neck. "Shino, you don't have to sit with me. You can go sit with Sakura and Zaku if you want. I've got a friend on the way I'm hoping to eat lunch with today, so you can go do whatever it is you do…"

He gave her a long look before picking up his tray and stalking over to sit with Hinata Hyuuga. Temari snorted and rolled her eyes. "God, if only I could sit with _my_ boyfriend. Instead I get stuck sitting with– Matsuri!" Her face brightened as Matsuri ran up, and she stood up. "Come on! Let's buy lunch, okay??"

Matsuri slipped into the seat and cleared her throat, pulling out a bagged lunch. "I don't really feel like eating right now. You want my lunch?"

Temari grabbed the bag and inspected it. "Oh, wow. Your grandmother makes really good lunches! Not even I've got the patience to make lunches like this. The old bat's got a lot of free time, doesn't she?" She chuckled, and Matsuri's face turned red.

"Oh, I made that. My grandmother's terrible at making lunches, so I made my own. Those are leftovers from dinner last night."

Temari pulled out a tupperware dish of salad and opened it. "Wow. Smells fancy. You know, the acid in most vinaigrettes breaks down the lettuce, right?"

Matsuri's face reddened further. "That's…not a vinaigrette. It's a salad dressing I made."

Temari's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "No kidding! _You_ made dinner the other night!?"

"No…just the salad and the dressing. Me and my grandmother take turns making the side dishes. It was my turn that day." Her face brightened. "Back when I was home-schooled, we spent most of the day cooking, so I learned a lot from her! It was a lot of fun… It's still fun cooking with her."

"So…" Temari started, slyly feigning innocence. "I wonder if your grandmother would mind you coming over for dinner at our house some time… I'm sure we could cook something better than bacon and eggs for a guest…"

Matsuri giggled, seeing right through her ploy. "Do you three still have to fend for yourselves?"

"Yeah," Temari sighed. "Kankurou and I have yet to make anything halfway edible. And Gaara never helps with dinner, just holes himself up in his room like Dad, so we get stuck injuring ourselves and tripping over each other in the kitchen. Did you know Kankurou can't set the table without tripping and ruining it at least once?"

"Oh? Well…maybe I should come over and help cook dinner for you guys some time…" She'd let Temari have her fun, and play right into it for a while. After all, it's the least she could do for them after all they'd done for her over the years.

"Seriously!? That'd be awesome! We've been living on instant meals and sandwiches for the past five years!! The last time we had a decent meal was when we ordered take-out!!"

Matsuri gave her a pitied look. "Take-out isn't a decent meal, Temari."

Temari took a bite from the salad and looked ready to melt at the taste.

"In our house, Matsuri, _anything_ not cooked in a microwave or frying pan is a decent meal."

The two continued eating in silence, only breaking it to talk about her grandmother and the arts and crafts Temari had been getting involved in. Neither of them were satisfied by the conversation – they both wanted to be talking about someone else.

––––––––––––––––

Every time her and her grandmother made dinner, her grandmother had always been the one to do any sort of cutting. Ever since that incident with her parents, she couldn't even look at knives without having horrible flashbacks and finding her legs give out as crippling terror seized her. Over time, she'd managed to get over it. She could look at them now without feeling too nervous, but the second someone picked them up, she felt anxious all over again and had to leave the room.

And so, it only made her realize how stupid she was when she'd decided to pick Cooking as an elective just now.

All of the students put on their aprons and went to their tables, and she stood there in the doorway, frozen solid. A few of the students began to get bowls out and in the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow begin to overtake the door. Her heart stopped when a laugh sounded behind her, and a hand fell to her shoulder.

"You must be the new student! Matsuri!"

She stumbled forward and nearly screamed, causing everyone in the room to turn their heads and look at her. When she spun around, she saw an old woman who looked twice as old as even her grandmother smile at her widely, chuckling behind her hand at her reaction.

"Oh! I'm sorry to frighten you! Heh heh, I'm the teacher for Cooking! You may call me Chiyo like everyone else here!"

She put a hand to her chest and took a few deep breaths before laughing lightly. "It's nice to meet you! I'm M-Matsuri. I'm really glad I'm taking this class. Cooking is my favorite thing to do!"

The teacher smiled warmly at her, and she couldn't help but feel an immense wave of calm overtake her. The lady smiled just like her grandmother. "I'm glad to hear that," Chiyo said. "I think you'll fit right in here. If there's anything you need, feel free to ask me. I'm always eager to help."

Her face flushed, and she couldn't help but feel joy well up in her chest. Not only did this old lady have a warm smile, but she was also extremely nice and caring. Maybe she could conquer her fears in this class after all! She seemed to be on cloud nine right now, and it didn't feel as if there was anything that would–

The woman grabbed at her chest and gasped, falling into the doorpost.

Matsuri screamed and went to her immediately. "Ch-Chiyo!! M-Miss Chiyo! Oh my God! Wh-Wh-What–"

"Gotcha!" the teacher said, opening her eyes and winking at her.

Matsuri's face paled, and her knees buckled underneath her. She went tumbling to the floor as the room burst into hysterics. It wasn't funny when it happened to them on the first day, but it was _hilarious_ happening to someone else who didn't expect it. And this girl had actually _fainted_.

Next to a rather portly redhead laughing quietly to himself, a girl with cropped black hair recovered from yet another scare from their teacher. She was the only other one who had fainted when Chiyo had pulled her stunt at the beginning of the year, and yet again it felt as if she would faint. She grabbed her friend's sleeve to keep herself grounded, and he chuckled and patted her arm.

"Chill out, Hinata. She was just pranking the new girl. Everything's fine," he assured her.

She wiped at her face and nodded her head, relaxed again. "Th-Thank you, Chouji."

He grinned. "Anytime. Say! Maybe she can partner up with us! I'm sure Shikamaru will enjoy having someone else do his job!"

As if on cue, the dark-haired boy showed up behind his teacher and the new student in the doorway, staring at the room apathetically. "What's everyone laughing at? Did I miss something again?" His head fell to the girl on the floor, and his eyes widened a smidge. "Oh! It's Matsuri."

Chiyo bent down and nudged her, and she looked up groggily. "I, hee hee, didn't think you'd faint like that, Matsuri! Pfffft….the only other person who's ever…ha ha…f-fainted was Hinata!"

The brunette perked up, recognizing the name instantly. "…Hinata?"

"Matsuri? You're in this class?"

She turned and looked up, her jaw dropping. "…Shikamaru?"

He bit back a smile and grabbed her hand, helping her up. "Yeah. Me and Chouji and Hinata have this class." He eyed the other two, his smile quickly taking up his face. "Hey, maybe you could partner up with us…"

She smiled back as class got started, and they walked back to the table after shuffling some aprons on. "Okay… That sounds great!" she exclaimed, glad she was making friends she had a chance to talk to in so many places.

They took their spot and Chouji leaned over Hinata, whispering hoarsely and reaching for her hand. "I'm Chouji. I think I was busy when we first met. Hey."

She shook his hand and scratched her head a little. That was…absurdly polite. She'd never shaken someone's hand before…not since meeting her parent's friends and their friends' kids. Instead of wondering how his parents raised him, she turned to see Hinata glancing at her. She turned to face her, but Hinata looked away immediately, her face turning bright red.

"…Hi. Thanks for showing me to my class and all. We should sit together in Pre-Algebra."

Hinata looked down at the table and nodded. "…I'd like that…" Neither of her friends expected her to smile or say another word the rest of class, but she clutched the edge of the table and looked over at the brunette, nodding her head. "I…I-I'm Hinata…"

Matsuri grinned. "I'm Matsuri." Oh yay! She'd looked over at her and spoken! Her first girlfriend aside from Temari at this school! And she was her age and everything! Sure, her girlfriend was shier than anyone she'd ever met in her life, but she was sure she could pull her out of her shell. "…Are you guys in here for a blow-off class?" she whispered.

The three looked at each other before Chouji fought back a laugh and Shikamaru glared at him.

A giggle from Hinata froze them all, and she covered her mouth and tried to keep from laughing. After a moment, she wiped at her eye and took a deep breath. "O-Only Shikamaru is…using this class for that. I…I l-like cooking," she trailed off, turning back to the table.

Matsuri's face brightened even further, and she nudged Hinata's elbow a bit. "So do I. I love cooking. If nothing else works out for me, I'd like to make a living out of it."

Hinata's face turned bright red, and her mouth opened, gasping. "M-Me, too!"

Shikamaru cleared his throat and stepped away toward Chouji, leaving the two girls to themselves. Chouji smiled, staring at Hinata. "Wow. They already have something in common. Doesn't it seem like she's been getting a lot of luck with friends in the past few days? There was Shino…and now Matsuri…" He glanced over at Shikamaru, his cheeks turning pink. "Is it weird that I feel like this is what my parents must've felt on my first day of school?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened and he put a hand over his mouth, shaking with laughter.

"Pfffffffft–"

The teacher turned, along with everyone in the room, and he cleared his throat and composed himself. When class resumed, he glanced back at Chouji and nodded, whispering hoarsely. "…I want to say yes…but I know exactly how you feel," he said, glancing at Hinata and resisting the urge to laugh. Their shy little bird was finally spreading her wings and leaving the nest. What a ridiculous concept and yet…it was spot-on for the sensation he got watching her interacting so easily with Matsuri.

That's when the four looked around at the sight of everyone in the classroom getting ingredients ready and starting to prepare vegetables. Shikamaru turned to Chouji, and Matsuri turned to Hinata, both asking the same thing–

"Uh…were you listening to what we're supposed to be doing right now?"

They all shook their heads, and Shikamaru leaned over the table to one of the girls at the table across from them. "Hey, Mitsuko? What dish are we making today?"

She leered at him and picked up a pickle she'd brought from home, along with a knife. "We're making deviled eggs. What are _you_ making today? Didn't you remember today we get to make whatever dish we want to?"

He glanced over at Chouji, but Chouji just rolled his eyes and pulled out a bar of chocolate. "I made sure Hinata brought the Graham crackers because I _knew_ you'd forget," he mumbled. "We're making s'mores. It was your idea in the first place, remember?"

Shikamaru chuckled. "Oh yeah. I wonder if this even counts as a dish… You think if we stole one of the Bunsen burners from one of the science labs and used it, it'd still count as a stove-top?"

Hinata flushed red and pulled out a pan. "…Ch-Chouji…if we melt down that chocolate and crumbled the Graham crackers, we could easily dip the marshmallows in them… Or…Or we could even borrow some dough and make snack cakes…"

Chouji's stomach rumbled, and he looked over at her. "I like that idea better…"

"Tch, S'mores are easier," Shikamaru replied.

Hinata nodded her head. "I-If you want, we could still make s'mores," she mumbled, her face turning bright red. "It was only a suggestion…" She turned her eyes to the table. "And I doubt anyone would let us borrow any dough…"

Chouji frowned. "We can always just ask Chiyo for some dough, Hinata! I like the snack cakes better. It sounds challenging. What do you think, Matsuri?"

The three turned to see their deciding vote staring at the table, fighting to calm down and keep from walking shakily out of the classroom. Hinata put a hand to her mouth and looked over at her, stepping toward her a bit. "…M…M-Matsuri?" She leaned over to look at the brunette's face, and her face stiffened. She looked back at the boys, poking her fingers together nervously.

"…Sh-She looks…up-upset… Like she's about to cry…or s-something…"

"…I'm…I'm _fine_," Matsuri answered stiffly, taking a few deep breaths and looking back at them with a forced smile on her face. "…I'm fine, so let's just move on. W-What are we making today?"

The three gave her a strange look before Shikamaru moved on quickly. "S'mores," he replied simply, as if the incident had never occurred and all the while maintaining only minimal interest in what could have possibly been wrong with her. His best friend shot him a dirty look and opened his mouth to reply, but Matsuri beat him to it.

"…You can do that?" she asked, staring at him and quirking a brow. "I mean…isn't that…like…really half-assed?"

"So you agree!" His face brightened. "I mean, you looked a bit iffy earlier, so maybe we should go slow on your first day! You don't want to do too much and get nervous about the class, you know?"

Chouji gave him a strained look. "Shikamaru," he said breathlessly. "You can't honestly think this class is going to tire her out… This isn't a sport or anything. She'll be fine doing snack cakes. If worse comes to shove, we can just make her do something easy like cut them into circles or spread the filling between the two cakes."

"Well, whatever we're planning on doing, we have to do it quick. We _are_ only in a fifty-minute class. There's only so much we can do in that time…" Shikamaru reminded him.

"Yeah, but this is the last period of the day. As long as we clean up afterwards, the teacher doesn't mind us taking a bit longer after class, Shikamaru," the larger one there said with a look of aggravation on his face. "I'd like to try Hinata's idea instead of being a lazyass today for once."

Hinata smiled. "…Um…I-I'll make the chocolate…" she said out loud, to get the ball rolling. Her friends both rode the bus, and she wasn't too keen on finishing everything for them like she normally did.

Matsuri smiled. "And I'll help knead and bake the dough! Shikamaru, you can set the oven temperature and let it warm while Chouji goes and gets the dough we need. I'll get everything else out!"

Shikamaru started working the knobs and getting out a few more bowls, all the while looking more exhausted than he could have actually been. "Fine, but you people are crazy. There's no way we can do this in fifty minutes. We've never even _tried_ something like this before! How are we going to make a cream filling with a bag of _marshmallows_?"

Matsuri smiled as she pulled out a whisk and a mixing bowl, and Hinata giggled to herself as she pulled out the marshmallows. The girls handed him the supplies, and Matsuri winked at him. "That's the question of the day, isn't it? Why don't _you_ figure it out, Shikamaru?"

His jaw dropped as Chouji came back with the dough, and he set to placing the marshmallows into the bowl and staring at them like they'd get up and dance. As Chouji took his place beside him, he spoke through his teeth. "…Sheesh. Even Hinata's laughing it up and helping her give me work to do. How am I supposed to mix these into something creamy?? They're dry on the outside!"

Chouji pulled out a rolling pin and some sugar, just rolling his eyes at his best friend.

"Don't pretend you don't like figuring things out, Shikamaru."

––––––––––––––––

The bell rang, and Shikamaru looked up from where he was stirring the thick goopy mixture of marshmallows while waiting for the dough to finish baking, and turned to Chouji. "Shit. We're going to be late for the bus, Chouji…" he said, glancing around at the other students hanging up their aprons and walking out the door. A few were putting their supplies away as they ate their concoctions…but they weren't even close to finished! He wasn't sure if the marshmallows were done, having just now figured out how to make them into something remotely fluid.

"Ah, you're right!" Chouji turned to the girls, fidgeting. "You don't mind finishing it on your own, do you??" he asked, knowing Hinata would say yes regardless and he'd still feel guilty anyway.

Hinata nodded, looking a lot less depressed than she usually did when they asked her to finish a dish for them, but Matsuri put a hand over her mouth. "Ah! That's not good! I ride your bus, too!" She turned to the dish, stressing over what to do about the situation, and Hinata looked down at the table and continued to stir the chocolate.

"I…It's f-fine, Matsuri… I can h-handle this."

Matsuri gave her a steamed look. "That's no good! What about _you_?? Won't you be late for the bus!? You can't just say things like this to help the people around you! You have to think of yourself, too!"

"…Oh…I…I walk to school, it's okay. I don't live that far away. I'll be fine…" She looked over and smiled, her cheeks warming. "It…It was fun meeting you. I…'ll see you in Pre-Algebra tomorrow…" Immediately, she turned back to the chocolate, and the boys began packing their things.

Matsuri turned to them for a moment before grinning and taking over the marshmallow for Shikamaru. "I haven't been in the previous semester for Pre-Algebra," she said, looking over at Hinata. "…so I'm going to need someone to help me with my homework. And I'm almost sure we're going to get a pop quiz tomorrow, and I need someone to help me study…"

Hinata looked over at her, her face pale. "E-E-Eh? You…D-Do you want to come over and study at my house?" her voice came out louder than she expected, and her cheeks flushed. "…You really want to??"

"Of course! Besides, that way you have someone to help you finish this. I can call my grandmother and let her know. I'm sure she won't mind!"

The boys looked back at them before sharing high-fives with each other – with Matsuri in the picture, it would be a little bit easier to deal with Hinata's crippling shyness. "Well," Chouji started, and Shikamaru finished. "If you girls have everything under control, we'll be leaving now." They both waved and walked out the door, hanging their aprons off to the side.

"Bye! I'll see you two on the bus tomorrow!" Matsuri called out to them. After a moment, she turned back to her task and looked at Hinata.

"You know…you could've just spoken up if you wanted someone to stay behind with you…"

Hinata shook her head. "N-No. It's fine. They have to ride the bus, and if they miss it, it puts pressure on their parents, and I'd hate to be the cause of that." The buzzer rang, and she bent down to get the dough out of the oven. They'd had to start the baking after Shikamaru figured out the marshmallows, that way it wouldn't cool by the time the filling was ready.

Putting it on the counter and turning the oven off, she went back to the chocolate.

"If something's bothering you, don't hesitate to tell me, okay?" Matsuri said, dipping her finger in the mallow soup and tasting it. She perked up, going positively pink. "Ooh! Whatever Shikamaru did to this deserves an A+! This is _delicious_!!"

Hinata looked at her, her face going red, as she turned back to the chocolate. She smiled. "Thank you, Matsuri… Not even Shikamaru's asked for that…and he's usually the one I tell things to…"

"Well, duh! He's a _boy_! Some boys ask things like that, but others don't feel like they need to." She looked back at her new friend and smiled sadly. "Plus, it's easy to read you because my first and most dearest friend was the same way. It took forever for me to get him to open up to me." She laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "That's why I was surprised when you perked up so quickly!"

Hinata gave her an even bigger smile. "It's hard not to around people like you and Shikamaru and Chouji," she laughed. Matsuri returned the smile.

"Now then! Let's get these snack cakes finished so we can hurry back to your place!"

"Right!" Hinata grinned and looked down, dipping her finger in the chocolate and tasting it before nodding her head. She took it off the burner and went to go grab a knife from the drawer to cut the dough into pieces. Inches from the drawer, she turned back around.

"M-Matsuri?"

Matsuri looked at her. "Yes, Hinata?"

"I…If…If there's…a-anything b-bothering you…you can always tell me," she stuttered, her face heating up. There! It was out there in the open! It went both ways, their trust. Hopefully. Hopefully Matsuri would become a dear friend.

Matsuri smiled. "Okay."

Hinata pulled a knife out of the drawer, and Matsuri froze.

As the darker-haired girl cut the dough into circles, she was completely unaware of Matsuri freaking out beside her. After a moment, she turned and paled when she saw Matsuri staring at her wide-eyed, mouth half-open. "…Um…U-Uh…Am…Am I…doing something wr-wrong?"

"…I'm scared of knives," Matsuri gasped, before putting a hand to her head and stumbling toward the door. "I-I'll be fine in a mo-moment! J-Just finish that up and put the knife away!"

Hinata's face fell and the teacher finally spoke up from the front of the room. "Hinata, finish that up and I'll go check on Matsuri, okay?" Hinata nodded and she went walking to the door, out into the hallway where Matsuri was standing by a locker, her eyes closed, looking at the ceiling and taking a few deep breaths.

"Matsuri?"

The brunette spun around and gasped. "M-Miss Chiyo! Oh, I'm sorry… I just…needed to get a breath of air…"

"Is everything all right?"

"Y…Yes. I'll be f-fine… I just…I'm just terrified of knives…"

The old lady smiled that warm, endearing smile of hers and Matsuri found herself relaxing immediately. "Why don't you go back in," Chiyo suggested. "You don't have to stand near Hinata while she's holding the knife, but I think it'd be best if you stood there in the room."

"N-No, I c-can't. I just _can't_… It's a long, _long_ story, but b-because of…of _something_ that happened a few years ago, I become panic-stricken when I see knives," she mumbled, her eyes lowering to the ground as tears threatened to fall. With this old lady reminding her of her grandmother so much, she was finding it absurdly easy to show her that side of herself she tried not to show to anyone.

The lady patted her on the shoulder and put a hand on her back. "That's alright, Matsuri. You can take this at your own pace, but running isn't going to make it easier for you. You'll never get anywhere if you run from the fear. And I don't want to make this a habit in my class. It'll become troublesome. You managed to shake it off with so many people around you earlier, didn't you? Now what makes this so much harder?"

"…Y-You saw that?"

"Of course! I had to make sure you adjusted well to the class, after all. I've been watching you since class started. You're such a bright person, and I'd hate to see something like this keep you from being your best. " She leaned in close, smiling. "And Hinata doesn't even giggle like that with her two friends, so I think you should really work on this. You and Hinata can work on it together, hmm?"

Matsuri's face warmed. That was absolutely right. She didn't _have_ to do this alone. Hinata was anxious, just like her. Hinata's anxiety was slightly different, but it was still there. She wiped at her eyes and nodded her head. "Yes. We can; you're right. Thank you, Chiyo."

"No problem. I'm a teacher. This is my job. Now get back in there." She laughed, giving Matsuri a nice pat towards the door, and Matsuri walked in, taking a deep breath and watching the girl closely. Her muscles tensed and her forehead began to perspire, but she took a few deep breaths.

Hinata glanced over at her and gave her a small smile, and Matsuri waved back, edging closer.

She could do this.

It was all mind over matter, after all.

––––––––––––––––

With a slap on the back, Kankurou grabbed Gaara's attention away from the pavement. The redhead had been sitting at the side of the building, staring off into space as the last student hopped into his mother's car and hitched a ride home. Temari's counselor meeting was taking longer then they'd thought it would, and they were stuck waiting for her out by the back of the school. Even now, they could see her black Jetta in the parking lot, looking lonely all by itself among a few cars spaced apart at random intervals.

"Gaara! You look down. Didn't you see Matsuri today? Surely that made you happy."

Gaara rubbed his shoulder, but didn't look up. He didn't say a word, and Kankurou took it upon himself to start up the conversation.

"Well," he said proudly, "I got the part of Puck in the school play. Isn't that great?"

"…I feel off today," Gaara murmured. Back at lunch, he'd heard that strange voice inside his head, and again he'd snapped in that voice that wasn't his own, feeling altered from what he was before. It was alarming – what was _happening_ to him? He'd even lashed out at Matsuri. How deep would this go?

"Oh…" Kankurou's smile faded before he slumped down beside his brother and patted him on the shoulder again. "Well, tomorrow things'll get better, okay? Today was just off because Dad blew up at us the other day, but everything's going to be fine when we get home this evening. Tomorrow morning, everything will be good as new."

He cautioned a look at his brother; Gaara didn't look convinced at all.

"You should try taking your medicine and get some sleep tonight," he mumbled. "You'll probably feel better…"

"When I sleep…I dream things… I…wind up hurting you and Temari when you try to wake me up… I get violent, and I get scared…and…" He curled up, linking his hands around his knees and putting his chin in the groove his kneecaps formed. "I can't…"

And that same question was asked to him–

"…What do you dream about anyway, Gaara?"

His lips parted, and he turned to look at Kankurou, to communicate like his brother wanted him to.

"_Don't tell him! If you tell him, he'll tell your father and your father will be disappointed in you again. You'll go back to that shrink who makes you feel uncomfortable and they'll pry you wide open and make you take medicine all over again!"_

His face froze at the voice speaking against his inner ear. The voice was right.

He shook his head and turned away.

But Kankurou merely sighed and smiled and placed a hand on top of his head, ruffling it endearingly. "Gaara," he said, "The medicine keeps you from having those dreams and getting violent. If you take that medicine and let it lull you to sleep instead of flush it down the toilet and try to stay awake all night, everything will be fine."

"_Don't believe him, Gaara. It won't."_

"…It will?" he whispered, trying his hardest to ignore the voice, to hold onto some sense of self.

"Of course it will," Kankurou replied, flabbergasted. "That's why they prescribed it in the first place! And it's okay if you don't want to tell me what you dream about! As long as I'm getting through to you, it's fine. So just relax and let the counselor help you. Everything will be fine, okay?"

Gaara forced himself to smile and looked back at his knees, but then the door behind them slammed open.

"That fucking counselor doesn't know shit!! Like he really gives a _damn_ about my home life!! What the fuck does he know, anyway!? I'm perfectly fine thinking the way I do so don't you _dare_ try to change me, you jackass!!"

They both turned to see Temari storming out of the building. Kankurou stood to say hello to her, but she shoved him out of the way and stormed toward the car.

"Get your asses over here! We're going home! I am just so _angry_ right now! Kankurou, drive for me because I don't think I can last on the road without ramming into someone's rear fender!! Ugh!!"

Gaara stumbled up and trailed after his older brother, watching his sister warily. Again, he was seeing a side of humanity he hated seeing – why put faith in people when they were too stubborn to accept help and hated people for trying to help them? Why put faith in anything?

"Sis…what'd the counselor say?"

The air settled around them thickly as Kankurou slowed to a stop. Slowly, slowly, Temari began to turn before she clenched her fists and stomped her stiletto heel against the ground, nearly breaking the heel off against the concrete.

"Like _hell_ Dad would listen to me if I tried talking to him!! Kankurou, you better count yourself lucky you don't have to see these idiots like me and Gaara do! They don't know anything!! Am I right, Gaara!?" She tilted her head to look at him, asking her to back him up. "I'm right, aren't I!?"

–

_Iruka smiled, clearing his throat and placing a hand against his desk as he scribbled something down in the notebook. "So, Gaara… I'm curious as to why you attacked Dosu in the bathroom the other day. Did he say something to set you off?"_

_Gaara stared at him, shuddering a breath, and immediately looked to his knees. He couldn't tell Iruka he hadn't been thinking anything; he couldn't tell him that his body moved on his own and he felt like a completely different person as he bashed the older boy's head into the floor hard enough to crack his skull open. He'd been trying so hard to forget that had even happened…but what if Iruka cared? What if somewhere deep in that man's heart, he actually _cared_ about the people he counseled? Would he give him a strange look and look uncomfortable after he told him like the shrink did? Would he give him an understanding smile and tell him it was alright? He couldn't bear to think what would happen if the man grew uncomfortable around him like the shrink had._

"_He…did…" Gaara forced through clenched teeth. "And…and I can't remember…what happened after that… I just…remember staring…at the blood on the floor."_

"…_You don't remember attacking him at all?"_

"…_I do…but…but I don't." It was too big of a risk – he should have just stopped and gone silent, let the man make of it what he would and save the comfortable air between them. But it was too late, now. There was no going back, and when he looked up, Iruka would be staring at him with a slightly frightened expression, unsure of what to say._

_He turned to look up at Iruka, but the man wasn't looking uncomfortable at all. Instead, he looked like he understood exactly what he meant. He looked…almost as if he knew what was wrong with him. _

_Iruka smiled and shook his head. "You and Naruto are a lot alike, Gaara," he said._

_He had broken the oath of confidentiality, too?_

"_I think we're all finished up here, Gaara. Unless there's anything else you'd like to say," he continued._

_Iruka smiled at him, scribbling one last thing on his clipboard before looking back at the boy in front of him._

_Gaara opened his mouth and licked his chapped lips, unused to this sort of treatment outside of Temari and Kankurou, and even they had their moments when they were less than nice. Tears welled up in his eyes – Iruka understood. He wasn't scared, and he… Things were still comfortable between them._

"_I'm scared," he admitted, wiping at his eyes to keep the tears from rolling down his cheeks._

"_It's okay to be scared," Iruka replied. "There's nothing wrong with being scared."_

_Gaara wiped at his eyes uselessly as the tears began to fall too heavily to catch them before they dripped down to his chin, but Iruka didn't yell at him for crying, just like the day before._

_Because Iruka _cared_._

–

She was in front of him now, and Gaara jolted back from his reverie to see her staring at him, slightly concerned.

"You okay, Gaara? You just…stopped responding and stared off into space… Is everything fine?" She put a hand to his head, but he shied away. "…H-How did you like seeing Matsuri today? She's doing much better, right? It's almost as if her parents were never murdered…"

"_No. Don't let her talk about that, Gaara. It will only make you feel worse! Don't listen to anything she says! Ignore her!!"_

His face sharpened, and his eyes hardened. He stormed over to the car, and it was his siblings following after him this time, Kankurou slapping Temari's shoulder angrily for bringing that back up. They didn't want him to blame himself for that, but he did anyway. And they knew he did, because the shrink had told them. Even if no one else blamed him, it was still all his fault, because those men had been after him, hadn't they? If Matsuri hadn't known him, if she hadn't lived near him, she wouldn't have gotten caught up in the middle of everything, so it was all his fault.

Everything shut down, and with a final throb of pain, Gaara went numb.


End file.
